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TRANSACTIONS 


GAELIC   SOCIETY   OF  INVERNESS. 


VOLUME    VI. 

1876-7. 


VV      I.  H 


TRANSACTIONS 

OF  THB 

GAELIC  SOCIETY  OF  INVERNESS. 


VOLUME    VI. 

1876-7. 


OF 


THE  GAELIC  SOCIETY 
OF    INVERNESS. 


YEAR    1876-7. 


Claim  natt  (Sstbheal  an  (UmatlUan;  a'  Chtile. 


PRINTED  FOR  THE  GAELIC  SOCIETY  OF    INVERNESS, 
BY  THE  HIGHLANDER  NEWSPAPER  AND   PRINTING  AND  PUBLISHING 

COMPANY  (LIMITED), 
AND  SOLD  BY  JOHN  NOBLE,   JAMES   H.  MACKENZIE,  JAMES   MELVEN,   AND 

WILLIAM  MACKAY,  BOOKSELLERS,  INVERNESS  ; 
AND  MACLAOHLAN  &    STEWART,    EDINBURGH. 

1878. 


PRINTED   AT    "THE   HIGHLANDER"   OFFICE,   INVERNESS. 


o 


PA6B 

Office-bearers  for  1877  .  .  .  .      rii. 

Constitution  ......    viii. 

Introduction  ......    xiii. 

Fifth  Annual  Assembly        .....         1 

Reasons  why  Gaelic  should  be  Taught  in  Highland  Schools — 

H.  C.  Gillies 23 

Annual  Dinner  of  the  Society — Annual  Report — Speeches 
by  Professor  Blackie,  Wm.  Mackay,  solicitor,  Rev. 
Alex.    Macgregor,    M.A.,    Sir   Kenneth  Mackenzie, 
Bart,  Wm.  Jolly,  M.  A.,  H.  M.  Inspector  of  Schools, 
Charles  Stewart  of  Brin,  John  Macdonald,  Charles 
Innes,  solicitor,    Colin  Chisholm,  H.  C.  Macandrew, 
John  Murdoch,  Rev.  Mr  Maclachlan,  <kc.      .  .       27 

The  Authenticity  of  Ossian— Rev.  Dr  Hately  Waddell        .       63 
Remains  of  Ancient  Religion  in  the  North — R.  G.  Tolmie       88 
The  Collecting  of  Highland  Legends  and  the  Necessity  for 

Collecting  them  now — Rev.  Mr  Watson,   Kiltearn     102 
The   Cosmos  of  the  Ancient  Gaels  in  its  relation  to  their 
Ethics — Donald   Ross,    M.A.,    H.    M.    Inspector  of 
Schools          .  .  .  .  .  .120 

Gaelic  Competition  at  Drumnadrochit  .  .  .149 

Early  History  of  the  Glen  and  Castle  of  TJrquhart — Wm. 

Mackay,  solicitor       .  .  .  .  .152 

The  Clearance  of  the  Highland  Glens — Colin  Chisholm         .     174 
Honorary  Chieftains  and  Members  .  .  .  .189 

List  of  Books  in  the  Society's  Library  .  .  .199 

Gaelic  Song  —Mrs  Mary  Mackellar  ....     205 


of  Inberra0s, 


YEAR    1877. 


CHIEF. 
Professor   Blackie. 

CHIEFTAINS. 

Charles  Mackay,  Culduthel  Road. 
Colin  Chisholm,  Broadstone  Park. 
Hugh  Rose,  Solicitor. 

HONORARY    SECRETARY. 
William    Mackay,  Solicitor,  Church  Street. 

SECRETARY. 
William  Mackenzie,  "  Free  Press  "  Office,  Inverness. 

TREASURER. 
Geo.  J.  Campbell,  Solicitor,  Castle  Street. 

COUNCIL. 

John  Murdoch,  "The  Highlander"  Office,  Inverness. 
Lachlan  Macbean,  Hill  Street. 
Charles  Ferguson,  Raigmore. 
John  Noble,  Castle  Street. 
James  Fraser,  C.E.,  Castle  Street. 

LIBRARIAN. 
Charles  Ferguson,  Raigmore. 

BARD. 
Mrs  Mary  Mackellar. 

PIPER. 
Pipe-Major  Alexander  Maclennan. 

BANKERS. 
The  Caledonian  Banking  Company. 


COMUM   GAILIG   OBHffi-NIS. 


CO-SHUIDHEACHADH. 

1.  'S  e  ainm  a  Chomninn  "  COMUNN  GAILIO 

2.  'S  e  tha  an  run  a'  Chomuinn  : — Na  buill  a   dheanama 
iomlan  'sa'   Ghailig ;  cinneas  Canaine,  Bardachd,  agus  Ciuil  na 
Gaidhealtachd ;    Bardachd,  Seanachas,  Sgeulachd,   Leabhraichean 
agus  Sgriobhanna   's   a'   chanain  sin   a  thearnadh   o  dhearmad ; 
Leabhar-lann  a  chur  suas  ann  am  baile  Inbhir-Nis  de  leabhraichibh 
agus  sgriobhannaibh—  ann  an  canain   Bam  bith — a  bhuineas  do 
Chaileachd,  lonnsachaidh,  Eachdraidheacbd  agus  Sheanachasaibh 
nan  Gaidheal  no  do  thairbhe  na  Gaidhealtachd  ;  coir  agus  cliu  nan 
Gaidheal  a  dhion  ;  agus  na  Gaidheil  a  shoirbheachadh  a  ehna  ge 
b'e  ait  am  bi  iad. 

3.  'S  iad  a  bhitheas  'nam  buill,  cuideachd  a  tha  gabhail  suixn 
do  runtaibh  a'  Chomuinn,    agus  so  mar  gheibh  iad   a  staigh : — 
Tairgidh  aon  bhall  an  t-iarradair,  daingnichidh  ball  eile  an  tairgse, 
agus,  aig  an  ath  choinneainh,  ma  roghnaicheas  a'   mhor-chuid  le 
crannchur,  nithear  ball   dhith-se  no    dheth-san    cho  luath    's  a 
phaidhear  an  chomhthoirt ;  cuirear  crainn  le  ponair  dhubh  agus 
gheal,  ach,  gu  so  bhi  dligheach,  feumaidh  tri  buill  dheug  an  crainn 
a  chur.      Feudaidh  an  Comunn  Urram  Cheannardan  a  thoirt  do 
urrad  'us  seachd  daoine  cliuiteach. 

4-     Phaidhidh  Ball  Urramach,  'sa'  bhliadhna  .  £0  10     6 

Ball  Cumanta .            .  •         .            .  .050 

Foghlainte       .            .            .            .  .010 

Agus  ni  Ball-beatha  aon'chomh-thoirt  de  .     770 

5.  'S  a'  Cheud-mhios,  gach  bliadhna,  roghnaichear,  le  crainn, 
Co-chomhairle  a  riaghlas  gnothuichean  a'  Chomuinn,  's  e  sin — aon 
Cheann,  tri  lar-chinn,  Cleireach  Urramach,  Runaire,  lonmhasair, 
agus  coig  buill  eile — feumaidh  iad  uile  Gailig  a  thuigsinn  's  a 
bhruidhinn  ;  agus  ni  coigqar  dhiubh  coinneamh. 


GAELIC  SOCIETY  OF  INVERNESS. 


CONSTITUTION. 

1.  The    Society  shall    be    called    the  "GAELIC    SOCIETY    OF 
INVBRWESS." 

2.  The  objects  of  the  Society  are  the  perfecting  of  the  Mem- 
bers in  the  use  of  the  Gaelic  language ;  the  cultivation  of  the 
language,  poetry,  and  music  of  the  Scottish  Highlands  ;  the  res- 
cuing from  oblivion  of  Celtic  poetry,   traditions,  legends,  books, 
and  manuscripts ;  the  establishing  in  Inverness  of  a  library,  to 
consist  of  books  and  manuscripts,  in  whatever  language,  bearing 
upon  the  genius,   the  literature,  the  history,  the  antiquities,  and 
the  material  interests  oi  the  Highlands  and  Highland  people  ;  the 
vindication   of  the  rights  and  character  of  the  Gaelic  people  ;  and, 
generally,  the  furtherance  of  their  interests  whether  at  home  or 
abroad. 

3.  The  Society  shall  consist  of  persons  who  take  a  lively  in- 
terest in  its  objects,  admission  to  be  as  follows : — The  candidate 
shall  be  proposed  by  one  member,  seconded  by  another,  balloted 
for  at  the  next  meeting,  and  if  he  or  she  have  a  majority  of  votes, 
and  have  paid  the  subscription,  be  declared  a  member.       The  ballot 
shall   be  taken  with  black  beans  and  white ;  and  no  election  shall 
be  valid  unless  thirteen  members  vote.       The  Society  has  power  to 
elect  distinguished  men  as  Honorary  Chieftains  to  the  number  of 
seven. 

4.  The  Annual  Subscription  shall  be,  for — 

Honorary  Members  ....  £0  10  6 
Ordinary  Members  .  .  .  .050 
Apprentices  .  .  .  .  .  010 
A  Life  Member  shall  make  one  payment  of  7  7  0 

6.  The  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  Society  shall  be  en- 
trusted to  a  Council,  chosen  annually,  by  ballot,  in  the  month  of 
January,  to  consist  of  a  Chief,  three  Chieftains,  an  Honorary 
Secretary,  a  Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  and  five  other  Members  of  the 
Society,  all  of  whom  shall  undei-stand  and  speak  Gaelic;  five  to  form 
a  quorum. 


X.  CO-SHUIDHKACHADH. 

6.  Cumar  coinneamhan  a'  Chotnuinn  gach  seachduin  o  thois- 
each  an  Deicheamh  mios  gu  deireadh  Mhairt,  agus  gach  ceithir-la- 
deug  o  thoiseach  Ghiblein  gu  deireadh  an  Naothamh-mios.      'S  i  a' 
Ghailig  a  labhairear  gach  oidhche  mu'n  seacli  aig  a  chuid  a's  lugha. 

7.  Cuiridh  a'  Cho-chomhairle  la  air  leth  anns  an  t-Seachdamh- 
mios  air-son  Coinneamh  Bhliadhnail  aig  an  curnar  Co-dheuchainn 
agus  air  an  toirear  duaisean  air-son  Piobaireachd  'us  ciuil  Ghaidh- 
ealach  eile ;   anns  an  fheasgar  bithidh  co-dheuchainn  air  Leughadh 
agus  aithris  Bardachd  agus  Rosg  nuadh  agus  taghta ;  an  deigh  sin 
cumar  Cuirm  chuideachdail  aig  am  faigh  nithe  Gaidhealach  rogh- 
atnn  'san  uirghioll,  ach  gun  roinn  a  dhiultadh  dhaibh-san  nach  tuig 
Gailig.     Giulainear  cosdas  na  co-dheuchainne  le  trusadh  sonraichte 
a  dheanamh  agus  cuideachadh  iarraidh  o'n  t-sluagh. 

8.  Cha  deanar  atharrachadh  sam  bith  air  coimh-dhealbhadh  a' 
Chonniinn  gun  acntachadh  dha  thrian  de  na'm  bheil   de  luchd- 
bruidhinn  Gailig  air  a'  chlar-ainm.     Ma's  miann  atharrachadh  a 
dheanamh  a's  eiginn  sin  a  chur  an  ceill  do  gach  ball,  mios,  aig  a' 
chuid  a's  lugha,  roimh'n  choinneamh  a  dh'fheudas  a  t-atharrachadh 
a  dheanamh.       Feudaidh  ball  nach  bi  a  lathair  roghnachadh   le 
lamh-aithne. 

9.  Taghaidh  an  Comunn  Bard,   Piobaire,  agus  Fear-leabhar- 
lann. 


Ullaichear  gach  Paipear  agus  Leughadh,  agus  giulainear  gach 
Deasboireachd  le  run  fosgailte,  duineil,  durachdach  air-son  na 
firinn,  agus  cuirear  gach  ni  air  aghaidh  ann  an  spiorad  caomh, 
glan,  agus  a  reir  riaghailtean  dearbhta. 


CONSTITUTIOK.  xi. 

6.  The  Society  sh  ill  hold  its  meetings  weekly  from  the  begin- 
ning of  October  to  the  end  of  March,  and  fortnightly  from  the 
beginning  of  April  to  the  end  of  September.     The  business  shall 
be  carried  on  in  Gaelic  on  every  alternate  night  at  least. 

7.  There  shall  be  an  Annual  Meeting  in  the  month  of  July, 
the  day  to  be  named  by  the  Committee  for  the  time  being,  when 
Competitions  for  Prizes  shall  take  place  in  Pipe  and  other  High- 
land Music.     In  the  evening  there  shall  be  Competitions  in  Read- 
ing and  Reciting  Gaelic  Poetry  and  Prose,  both  original  and  select. 
After  which  there  will  be  a  Social  Meeting,  at  which  Gaelic  sub- 
jects shall  have  the  preference,  but  not  to  such  an  extent  as  entirely 
to  preclude  participation  by  persons  who  do  not  understand  Gaelic. 
The  expenses  of  the  competitions  shall  be  defrayed  out  of  a  special 
fund  to  which  the  general  public  shall  be  invited  to  subscribe. 

8.  It  is  a  fundamental  rule  of  the  Society  that  no  part  of  the 
Constitution  shall  be  altered  without  the  assent  of  two-thirds  of 
the  Gaelic  speaking  Members  on  the  roll ;  but  if  any  alterations  be 
required  due  notice  of  the  same  must  be  given  to  each  member,  at 
least  one  month  before  the  meeting  takes  place  at  which  the  alter- 
ation is  proposed  to   be  made.     Absent  Members  may  vote  by 
mandates. 

9.  The  Society  shall  elect  a  Bard,  a  Piper,  and  a  Librarian. 


All  Papers  and  Lectures  shall  be  prepared,  and  all  Discussions 
carried  on,  with  an  honest,  earnest,  and  manful  desire  for  truth ; 
and  all  proceedings  shall  be  conducted  in  a  pure  and  gentle  spirit, 
and  according  to  the  usually  recognised  rules. 


INTRODUCTION. 


IN  issuing  the  present  Volume,  the  Publishing  Committee  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  of  congratulating  the  members  of 
the  Society  on  the  success  which  has  attended  the  Society's  labours 
during  the  past  year.  At  the  same  time,  they  observe,  with  plea- 
sure, that  they  have  now  many  able  coadjutors  in  the  Celtic  field 
in  different  parts  of  the  country — more  especially  in  the  large 
cities  of  the  South. 

The  work  in  which  the  Society  has  been  engaged  during  the 
period  that  has  elapsed  since  Volume  V.  was  issued  to  the  mem- 
bers has  been  crowned  with  all  manner  of  success.  The  Annual 
Assembly  and  Annual  Dinner  have  been  everything  that  could  be 
desired — large  and  enthusiastic  audiences  gathering  on  each 
occasion  to  honour  themselves  by  patronising  the  patriotic  meetings 
of  their  country. 

The  establishment  of  the  Celtic  Chair  in  Edinburgh  University 
is  now  almost  an  accomplished  fact.  The  sum  of  £10,000  which 
Professor  Blackie  set  himself  to  collect  has  been  in  his  hands  long 
ago  ;  but  before  taking  steps  towards  the  appointment  of  a  Pro- 
fessor it  was  thought  desirable  to  raise  £2,000  additional — to  have 
a  capital  of  £12,000 — in  short,  to  have  such  a  capital  as  would 
yield  a  salary  of  from  £500  to  £600  per  annum  to  the  Professor, 
independent  of  fees.  That  sum  will  soon  be  raised,  and  it  is 
believed  the  Celtic  Professor  will  be  discharging  his  duties  during 
the  session  of  1878-9. 

Mr  Fraser-Mackintosh,  M.P.,  has  succeeded  in  getting  the 
Education  Department  to  place  Gaelic  on  a  more  equitable  footing 
in  the  Schools  of  the  Highlands.  Since  he  entered  Parliament  he 
made  special  efforts  every  session  to  get  Gaelic  recognised  in  the 
Scotch  code  of  Education  j  but  until  the  session  of  1878,  he  was 


XIV. 

unable  to  attain  that  desirable  object.  Since  the  publication  of 
the  code  of  that  year,  he  has  prepared  a  statement  relative  to 
the  concessions  made,  and  we  cannot  do  better  than  give  it  here. 
It  is  as  follows  : — 

Tenor  and  Effect  of  the  Scottish  Education  Code  for  1878,  as  re- 
gards the  Gaelic  Language. 

"  Formerly  the  only  reference  in  the  Code  to  the  Gaelic 
language  was  in  these  words — '  In  districts  where  Gaelic  is  spoken 
the  intelligence  of  the  children  examined  under  any  paragraph  of 
his  Article  (19)  may  be  tested  by  requiring  them  to  explain  in, 
Gaelic  the  meaning  of  the  passages  read.'  Practically  this  came 
to  nothing,  for  the  teacher  getting  no  remuneration  had  no  call  or 
object  in  teaching  Gaelic. 

"  In  the  Code  for  1878,  there  are  two  additions.  First,  Article 
17  (L)  bear  that  'The  income  of  the  school  is  applied  only  for  the 
purpose  of  public  or  State  aided  schools  ; '  but  it  is  explained  in  a 
foot-note  thus  : — 'This  may  include  part  of  the  salary  of  an 
organizing  teacher,  or  a  teacher  of  Gaelic,  drill,  cooking,  or  any 
other  special  subject,  employed  by  the  managers  of  several  schools.' 

"  The  effect  is,  that  the  ordinary  school  funds  and  rates  may  be 
applied  by  the  School  Boards  towards  paying  teachers  of  Gaelic 
according  to  the  importance  attached  by  the  Boards  to  instruction 
in  that  language,  and  which  will,  no  doubt,  vary  according  as 
Gaelic  may  or  may  not  be  the  prevailing  language. 

"  Second,  Under  the  head  of  Government  grants  for  attendance 
to  day  schools,  Article  19  c.  3,  there  is  attached  a  foot-note — 
'  Gaelic  may  be  taught  during  the  ordinary  school  hours,  either  by 
the  certificated  teacher  or  by  any  person  specially  appointed  for 
the  purpose.' 

"  There  is  no  limit  to  the  time  per  week  within  which  Gaelic  may 
be  taught.  This  is  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  School  Boards, 
who  should  deal  with  each  school  separately,  and  fix  times  suitable 
and  appropriate.  Supposing  that  in  the  matter  of  hours,  equal  to 
one  day  out  of  five  is  devoted  to  Gaelic,  one-fifth  of  the  Govern- 
ment attendance  grant,  varying  as  children  pass  Standards  2  and 
3,  or  all  up  to  6,  would  then  be  earned  by  Gaelic. 

"  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  as  the  concessions  now  made  were 
attained  with  difficulty,  all  School  Boards  where  the  Gaelic 
language  prevails,  will  at  once  proceed  to  work  out  the  amended 
Code,  and  give  the  subject  full  and  fair  trial."  "  C.  F.  M." 


XV. 

We  have  also  to  add  with  pleasure  that  the  Messrs  Nelson,  of 
Edinburgh,  are  issuing  their  "  Royal  Readers,"  beautifully  illus- 
trated, in  Gaelic  and  English  combined,  to  suit  the  requirements 
of  the  new  Code. 

Celtic  books  are  appearing  from  time  to  time,  in  different  parts 
of  the  country.  Mr  W.  F.  Skene,  has  now  published  two 
volumes  of  his  learned  and  exhaustive  work,  "  Celtic  Scotland." 
Professor  Rhys,  of  Oxford,  has  just  issued  a  volume  of  Celtic 
Lectures,  which  has  been  cordially  received  by  the  English  press. 

Celtic  music  is  being  cultivated  with  enthusiasm.  Mr  Logan 
of  Inverness  has  published  two  collections  of  Ceol  Mor  and  other 
Highland  music  both  of  which  have  met  with  a  ready  sale.  Mr  H. 
C.  Gillies,  in  1877  published  a  small  collection  of  Gaelic  songs  with 
music  in  the  sol-fa  notation,  which,  we  are  informed,  sold  well. 
During  the  same  year  Mr  W.  S.  Roddie,  A.C.,  and  Mr  Lachlan 
Macbean,  Librarian  of  our  Society  ^  published  a  collection — "  Orain 
agus  fuinn  Ghaidhealach" — of  Gaelic  songs  with  translations,  and 
music  also  in  the  sol-fa  notation.  The  edition  was  a  very  large 
one,  but  in  about  six  months  it  was  all  bought  up.  The  High- 
lander gives  a  Gaelic  song  with  music  in  the  sol-fa  notation  every 
week  ;  while  the  Celtic  Magazine  presents  one  monthly  with  music 
in  the  old  and  new  notations.  These  facts  are  ample  evidence 
of  the  present  popularity  of  Highland  music. 

Altogether,  the  Committee  have  every  cause  to  congratulate  the 
members  of  the  Society  on  the  present  flourishing  condition  of  the 
Celtic  World. 

21  UNION  STREET,  INVERNESS, 
March,  1878. 


TRANSACTIONS. 


FIFTH  ANNUAL  ASSEMBLY. 

THE  Fifth  .Annual  Assembly  of  the  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness 
took  place  in  the  Music  Hall,  on  Thursday,  13th  July,  1876,  and 
was  one  of  the  most  successful  ever  held  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Society.  The  hall  was  crowded  in  every  part ;  and,  as  the  audience 
assembled,  the  piper  of  the  Society,  Pipe-Major  Maclennan,  dis- 
coursed Highland  music  on  the  bagpipe  in  excellent  style.  Pro- 
fessor Blackie,  Chief,  presided,  and  was  supported  on  the  platform 
by — Provost  Simpson,  D.  Davidson  of  Tulloch,  Bailie  Macbean, 
Bailie  Davidson,  Bailie  Noble,  Bailie  Macdonald,  Rev.  Alexander 
Macgregor,  Inverness ;  Dr  Stratton,  Devonport ;  Messrs  Donald 
Davidson,  Drummond  Park;  W.  Jolly,  H.M.I.S.  ;  Alexander 
Dallas,  Town-Clerk ;  Colin  CMsholm,  Namur  Lodge ;  D.  A. 
Macrae,  Fernaig  ;  D.  Campbell,  representative  of  the  Ossian  Club, 
Greenock  ;  D.  Macrae,  Ardintoul  j  Captain  Chisholm,  Glassburn ; 
and  Dr  Forbes,  Viewfield. 

The  Chief  stated  that  apologies  for  absence  had  been  received 
from  various  gentlemen,  and  he  called  on  the  Secretary,  Mr  Win. 
Mackenzie,  to  read  their  names.  These  were  as  follows  : — Dr 
Charles  Mackay,  Professor  Masson,  Major  Lyon-Mackenzie,  Sheriff 
Macdonald,  Inverness ;  Captain  Macdonald,  Ben-Nevis ;  A.  Mack- 
intosh Shaw,  London ;  Colonel  Mackenzie  of  Parkmount ;  Dr 
Mackenzie  of  Eileanach  ;  D.  Cameron  of  Clunes ;  H.  C.  Mac- 
andrew,  Sheriff-Clerk ;  Mackintosh  of  Mackintosh ;  Sir  George 
Macpherson-Grant,  Bart. ;  General  Sir  Patrick  Grant,  Bart.  ;  D. 
Cameron  of  Lochiel,  M.P.  ;  E.  W.  Mackintosh  of  Raigmore ;  W. 
Mackenzie,  Ardross  ;  J.  F.  Campbell  of  Islay  ;  G.  Malcolm,  Inver- 
garry ;  Cluny  Macpherson ;  Colonel  Ross  of  Cromarty ;  Sir 
Kenneth  Mackenzie,  Bart.  ;  Major  Grant,  Glen-Urquhart ;  Prof. 

A 


2  TRANSACTIONS. 

Geddes,   Aberdeen ;  Captain  Fraser   of  Balnain ;  C.   S.   Jerrara, 
Oxford  ;  John  Mackay,  C.E.,  Shrewsbury;  K.  Murray  of  Geanies, 
and  Principal  Shairp,  St  Andrews. 
Principal  Shairp  wrote  : — 

"There  are  few  things  I  should  have  more  enjoyed  than  to 
have  taken  part  in  your  gathering  on  the  13th  July.  But  I  regret 
to  say  that  I  have  engagements  which  will  make  it  impossible  for 
me  to  go  north  at  that  time.  I  hope  that  your  Society,  besides 
stimulating  patriotic  Celtic  feeling,  aims  at  doing  something  in- 
telligent and  deliberate  towards  preserving  the  natural  spirit  of  the 
Highlands  and  adapting  it  to  the  altered  circumstances  of  modern 
life.  With  regard  to  economics,  might  not  something  be  done  by 
the  Society  towards  preserving  or  rather  restoring  small  or  mode- 
rately-sized farms  throughout  the  Highlands — such  farms  as  the 
more  industrious  of  the  native  population  might  occupy,  instead  of 
having  the  whole  country  made  over  to  a  few  vast  sheep  walks, 
possessed  by  Lowland  and  probably  absentee  farmers,  with  here 
and  there  on  the  shores  and  loch  sides  and  moors,  fringes  of  half- 
fed  native  crofters  ?  Your  Society  might  not  be  able  to  do  any- 
thing directly.  But  if  they  would  try  to  turn  men's  thoughts  that 
way,  and  to  show  how  more  of  the  native  people  might  be  main- 
tained, in  comfort  to  themselves  and  benefit  to  the  country,  by  a 
better  and  more  considerate  distribution  of  holdings,  this  in  time 
would  have  a  practical  effect.  The  views  I  advocate  are  those 
which  I  learnt  long  ago  from  the  Rev.  Dr  Macleod  of  Morven, 
than  whom  no  man  has  a  larger  knowledge  of  the  Highlands,  and 
a  deeper  love  for  the  Highlanders.  There  are  many  other  objects 
which  I  have  no  doubt  your  Society  promotes — such  as  the  preser- 
vation of  the  vast  stores  of  native  music  and  collection  of  the 
Gaelic  lyrical  poetry.  Another  very  interesting  question  is  the 
religion  of  the  Highlanders,  as  it  was  from  the  days  of  St  Columba 
all  through  the  middle  ages  ;  and  the  changes  which  it  has  passed 
through  since  the  Reformation.  This  wide  and  deeply  interesting 
field  which  your  Society  has  before  it,  I  hope  it  may  be  enabled  to 
cultivate  wisely  and  well." 

A  party  of  young  ladies,  led  by  the  Honorary  Secretary,  sang 
"Air  faillirinn  illirin  uillirin,  O,"  and  were  cordially  encored. 
Thereafter, 

The  Chief  addressed  the  Assembly.  On  rising  he  was  received 
with  enthusiastic  cheers,  which  were  again  and  again  renewed. 
After  a  few  preliminary  observations,  he  said — It  appears  to  me 
that,  if  the  Celtic  societies  and  Gaelic  clubs  of  Scotland  are  to 


FIFTH   ANNUAL   ASSEMBLY. 

exist  in  any  style  that  goes  deeper  than  kilts,  and  dinners,  and 
after  dinner  speeches,  or  vespertine  addresses  that  they  ought 
principally  to  aim  at  three  things — ( I)  They  ought  to  declare  war 
most  distinctly  and  emphatically  against  that  monstrous  and 
abnormal  system  of  managing  Highland  property,  •which  has 
created  so  much  misery  in  these  trans-Grampian  regions,  a  system 
of  which,  judging  by  its  results,  the  grand  inspiring  principle 
seems  to  have  been  that  a  country  is  then  to  be  considered  most 
prosperous  when  the  population  of  the  rural  districts  has  been  re- 
duced to  the  minimum,  and  the  facilities  for  non-resident  proprie- 
torship raised  to  the  maximum.  Whoever  acts,  or  has  acted,  on 
such  principles,  by  whatever  motives  induced,  whether  from  that 
eagerness  to  gather  gold,  which  is  willing  to  snap  all  social  bonds 
and  disown  all  social  obligations ;  or  from  the  perverting  influence 
of  narrow  theories  of  political  economy,  placing  the  prosperity  of 
nations  in  the  amount  of  accumulated  n-aterial  wealth,  rather  than 
in  the  physical  and  moral  health  of  the  inhabitants ;  or  in  any 
other  way  from  the  general  habit  of  over-riding  and  crushing  the 
weaker  part  of  the  community,  which  is  the  besetting  sin  of  the 
strong — for  all  majorities  are  apt  to  be  tyrannical — from  whatever 
cause  in  any  district  the  systematic  depopulation  of  whole  tracts, 
and  desolation  of  our  most  beautiful  glens,  has  proceeded,  or  may 
be  now  proceeding,  in  the  Scottish  Highlands,  we  hold  it  our  most 
sacred  duty  in  the  name  equally  of  humanity  and  religion,  and 
Celtic  patriotism,  and  British  policy,  to  protest  against  such  high- 
handed selfishness,  and  such  pernicious  infatuation.  We  know 
how  the  Divine  command  originally  sounded — be  fruitful  awl 
multiply  and  replenish  the  earth  and  subdue  it !  and  we  are  not 
able  to  understand  why  this  command  should  be  applicable  to  all 
parts  of  the  world,  only  not  to  the  Scottish  Highlands.  We  are 
perfectly  aware  that  the  Highlands  of  Scotland  are  comparatively 
a  poor  country,  and  cannot  be  expected  to  maintain  a  flourishing 
peasant  population  to  the  same  extent  as  the  more  favoured  fields 
of  the  south.  No  doubt,  also,  there  exists  in  the  heart  of  the 
Highlands,  as  in  most  mountaineers,  a  passionate  love  of  country, 
which  may  have  led  them  sometimes  to  prefer  starving  in  their 
own  country  to  becoming  rich  in  Canada  or  New  Zealand.  We 
consider  it,  therefore,  a  duty  of  landed  proprietors  to  make  such 
regulations  in  regard  to  the  tenure  of  property  as  will  render  an 
excessive  subdivision  of  small  farms,  and  a  creation  of  a  pauper 
peasantry  impossible ;  as  it  is  also  the  duty  of  the  Government,  in 
co-operation  with  the  local  proprietors,  to  establish  such  a  machin- 
ery as  will  enable  a  certain  portion  of  the  population  to  hive  off, 

A  2 


4  TRANSACTIONS. 

when  it  has  become  impossible  for  them  to  lire  in  comfort  at  home. 
But  emigration  is  one  thing,  and  depopulation  another.  A  wise 
forester  thins  the  trees ;  but  it  is  the  hot  sirocco  that  dries  up 
their  juices,  and  the  rude  blast  that  tears  up  their  roots.  We 
believe  that  a  substantial  peasantry  is  the  backbone  of  a  nation's 
strength ;  we  know  that  no  peasantry,  whether  in  the  peaceful 
fields  of  labour,  or  in  the  bloody  strife  of  the  battle,  ever  behaved 
with  more  loyalty  and  more  manfulness  than  the  Highlanders.  We 
glory  in  the  character  and  in  the  achievements  of  our  Highland 
regiments — regiments  which,  in  the  days  of  their  most  brilliant 
exploits,  were  made  Tip  mainly  of  the  sons  of  our  Highland 
peasantry ;  and  we  must  weep,  not  only  as  Highlanders,  but  as 
men,  and  as  members  of  society  justly  feel  indignant,  when  we  see 
that  the  sons  and  grandsons  of  these  noble  defenders  of  our  na- 
tional interests,  and  worthy  representatives  of  our  national  charac- 
ter, have  not  always  been  kindly  cherished  by  their  natural  pro- 
tectors, as  they  ought  to  have  been,  but,  in  not  a  few  cases,  rather 
neglected  and  disowned ;  flung  away  like  weeds,  carted  off  like 
rubbish,  and,  sometimes,  even  systematically  exterminated.  Of 
course  we  are  too  wise  to  indulge  in  vehement  declamations  against 
any  class  of  society ;  we  know  that  the  greatest  social  evils  are 
often  caused  by  a  combination  of  unfortunate  influences,  which 
bear  people  along  like  an  under-current,  causing  them  not  only  to 
ruin  other  people  without  meaning  it,  but  even  to  commit  suicide 
on  their  own  best  interests.  But  we  know  also  from  history  that 
in  the  movements  of  great  classes  of  men  there  has  always  been 
manifested  a  tendency  of  the  strong  to  trample  on  the  weak ;  and 
we  say  that  somehow  or  other,  since  the  unfortunate  flash  of  mis- 
guided loyalty  in  1745,  the  strong  have  trampled  down  the  weak 
in  many  parts  of  the  Scottish  Highlands,  and  the  results  are  what 
we  see — the  Highlands  without  the  Highlanders ;  the  kilt  without 
.the  body ;  the  body  witho\it  the  soul.  Now,  it  is  against  this  sad 
state  of  things  that  the  Gaelic  societies  of  Scotland  are  called  upon 
to  protest,  and  not  only  to  protest,  but  to  use  their  influence  by 
effective  word  and  deed,  wherever  they  may  have  opportunity ; 
and  I  hereby  do,  in  their  name,  solemnly  protest  against  all  mani- 
festations of  such  anti-social  tendencies  from  whatever  quarter 
they  may  proceed.  We  desire  to  send  it  forth  with  no  uncertain 
sound  that  we  consider  it  the  first  duty  of  every  proprietor  to 
maintain  upon  his  property  as  great  a  population  as  is  consistent 
with  their  comfort  and  with  the  rational  management  of  property  ; 
and  with  this  view  to  map  out  his  estate  in  such  a  way  as  that  by 
the  due  admixture  and  just  balance  of  large  and  small  farms  with 


FIFTH   ANNUAL   ASSEMBLY.  5 

their  natural  complement  of  crofters,  all  the  elements  that  belong 
to  a  healthy  rural  society  shall  be  preserved ;  and  we  make  this 
protest,  not  as  sentimentalists  or  speculates,  but  as  practical  men 
in  the  interest  of  the  British  nation,  whbh  will  be  the  worse  and 
not  the  better  for  the  extermination  of  the  Celtic  peasant ;  in  the 
interest  of  our  Army  and  Navy,  which  was  always  best  served  by 
heather  bred  men ;  and  in  the  interest  of  the  labour  market,  which 
is  now  suffering  not  a  little  under  the  action  of  a  diminished  rural 
population.     And  we  make  this  protest,  as  we  hope,  at  a  particu- 
larly favourable  moment,  when  we  are  beginning  to  feel,  in  not  a 
few  ways,  the  pinch  caused  by  the  infatuation  under  which  our 
great  proprietors  have  too  often  acted  ;  and  at  a  moment  when  that 
right  noble  gentlemen,  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  (God  bless  him  !) 
is  showing  to  the  world  on  a  Titanic  scale,  that  whatever  others  do 
he,  for  one,  will  act  on  the  conviction   that  the  existence  on  his 
property  of  a  numerous  and  prosperous  peasantry  will  surround 
his  head  with  a  halo  more  glorious  than  that  which  encircles  the 
brow  of  the  brightest  saint  in  the  calendar.     There  are  some  land 
improvers  who,  when  any  project  for  the  good  of  the  district  is 
laid  before  them,  in  the  first  place  always  ask  will  it  pay  ?  and  if 
the  scheme  is  not  likely  to  pay,  that  is  to  yield  profit  to  them 
immediately  in  the  shape  of  base  gold,  they  will  have  nothing  to 
do  with  it.     Such  questions  may,  with  propriety,  be  put  by  land 
merchants  and  land  speculators ;  but  our  artistocracy  have  special 
representation  in  the  House  of  Lords,  not  as  land  merchants,  but 
as   protectors   and   cherishers   of  the  population.     The  Duke  of 
Sutherland  plainly  knows  this,  and  acts  as  a  man  who  feels  that 
two  per  cent,  return,  with  the  love  of  his  people  and  the  respect  of 
all  wise  men,  is  better  than  ten  per  cent,  with  the  curses  of  one 
class  and  the  contempt  of  the  other.     But  while  the  Gaelic  Society 
looks  upon  the  peasantry  as  the  main  strength  of  the  Highlands, 
it  is  very  far  from  looking  with  jealousy  on  the  rights,  privileges, 
and  rational  recreations  of  the  upper  classes.     I,  for  one,  have 
always    been    an    enthusiastic   advocate    of    field   sports   of  all 
degrees,    from    the    boyish    delight     of     burn-trouting    to    the 
aristocratic   triumphs   of  deer-stalking.      If  the   existence   of    a 
numerous  and  hardy  mountain  peasantry  contributed  in  so  great  a 
degree  to  the  fame  of  the  British  soldiers  all  over  the  world,  the 
practice  of  grouse-shooting,  deer-stalking,  and  other  field   sports 
contributed  no  less  to  the  education  of  the  British  officer.     There 
were  deer  forests  in  the  Highlands  before  the  '45,  and  those  who 
loved  the   Highlands  best — as  Duncan  Ban,  for  instance — were 


6  TRANSACTIONS. 

generally  the  best  deer-stalkers.  But  what  f ,  as  an  individual, 
object  to,  and  what  I  think  all  Gaelic  Societies  should  emphatically 
object  to,  is  that  deer-forests  in  any  district  that  historically  sup- 
ported a  happy  human  population  should  be  so  extended,  so  culti- 
vated, and  so  protected,  as  to  make  the  maintenance  of  a  peasantry 
a  secondary  consideration,  or  rather  a  thing  by  all  means,  in  every 
decent  way,  to  be  got  rid  of.  We  assert  with  emphasis,  not  only 
as  Highlanders,  but  for  the  public  interest,  and  as  a  matter  of 
plain  policy,  that  the  care  of  all  Highland  proprietors  in  districts 
which«are  not  absolutely  wild,  bare,  and  incapable  of  improvement, 
should  be  for  the  people  in  the  first  place,  and  only  after  them  for 
the  deer  and  the  grouse.  As  little  have  I,  as  an  individual,  or  the 
Gaelic  societies  in  general,  any  unconquerable  aversion  to  sheep. 
Sheep  are  the  best  stock  in  certain  places ;  and  it  was  a  wise 
policy  which  introduced  sheep  farming  on  a  more  extensive  scale 
into  the  Highlands  ;  but  what  we  object  to,  exactly  as  in  the  case 
of  deer-forests,  is  that  this  particular  method  of  Highland  farming 
should  have  been  pursued  to  such  an  excess,  with  such  a  headlong 
speed,  and  such  a  blind  infatuation,  as  to  have,  in  not  a  few  places, 
actually  annihilated  the  object  for  which  all  Highland  farming 
exists,  viz. — the  existence  of  a  well-conditioned  and  well-distributed 
Highland  peasantry.  We  will  not  believe  that  mutton  cannot  be 
provided  for  Glasgow  merchants  and  Edinburgh  lawyers  except  by 
the  expatriation  of  all  our  honest  Highlanders,  and  the  farming 
out  of  whole  districts  to  a  south  country  sheep-merchant  who  does 
not  belong  to  the  country  out  of  which  he  sucks  his  wealth.  We 
do  not  believe  in  the  economical  benefit  of  a  few  gigantic  farms 
without  population  ;  and  as  to  absenteeism  in  every  shape,  we  hold 
it  to  be  a  plain  dereliction  of  duty  in  those  who  habitually  practice 
it,  and  the  bringer  of  blight  and  barrenness  to  those  unfortunate 
districts  which  by  such  dereliction  are  deprived  of  the  superintend- 
ence which  naturally  belongs  to  them,  and  the  fostering  care, 
which  from  the  dependent  position  of  their  inhabitants,  they  are 
entitled  to  claim.  The  second  thing  to  which  the  Celtic  societies 
in  Great  Britain  ought  to  devote  special  attention  is  the  moral  and 
intellectual  improvement  of  the  Highlanders  ;  and  in  this  depart- 
ment, also,  we  shall  find  that  blunder  has  been  heaped  on  blunder, 
and  offence  upon  offence,  even  more  glaring,  and  if  possible  even 
more  pernicious^  than  in  the  domain  of  physical  well-being  and 
material  interests.  All  who  have  considered  this  important  matter 
seriously — and  I  wish  that  our  zealous  improvers  of  the  breed  of 
cattle  and  sh«ep  would  look  a  little  more  closely  into  it — must  be 


FIFTH   ANNUAL   ASSEMBLY.  7 

aware  that  the  postulate  of  all  good,  intellectual  and  moral  train- 
ing for  Highlanders,  lies  in  the  wise  use  of  their  mother  tongue, 
combined  with  a  thorough  study  of  English.  The  necessity  of  the 
first  element  has  from  time  immemorial  been  loyally  recognised 
within  the  elevating  region  of  the  Christian  pulpit ;  as  long  as 
Gaelic  sermons  are  preached  in  Highland  parishes  the  Highlanders 
will  have  good  reason  to  say  that  they  are  a  peculiar  people,  and 
not  grudged  the  enjoyment  of  that  spiritual  nutriment  which  suits 
them.  But  as  a  citizen  of  the  British  Empire,  every  Highlander 
was  entitled  to  claim  that  he  should  be  thoroughly  trained  in  the 
general  language  of  the  Empire,  the  language  of  business,  and  a 
language  which,  when  acquired,  would  unlock  to  him  the  highest 
treasures  of  knowledge  to  which  he  was  entitled  to  aspire.  To 
afford  this  advantage  to  the  poor  Highlander  situated  in  remote 
and  unfrequented  parts  of  the  Empire,  a  liberal  and  well  appointed 
school  machinery  would  have  been  necessary ;  but  it  is  a  known 
fact  that  in  this  department  the  Government  and  governing  classes 
of  this  country  so  shamefully  neglected  their  duty,  that  it  was 
practically  impossible  for  a  great  number  of  Highlanders  to  be  able 
to  read  either  their  Gaelic  or  their  English  Bibles.  In  not  a  few 
places  no  teaching  was  provided  ;  what  could  be  got  was  got  not 
from  the  authorities — but  from  the  extraordinary  exertions  oi 
apostolic  ministers  and  benevolent  ladies.  In  some  places  English 
was  learned  as  Latin  is  learned  in  bad  classical  schools  ;  it  rumbled 
about  the  ear,  but  never  stirred  the  heart,  much  less  took  any  grip 
of  the  brain.  This  arose  partly,  no  doubt,  from  the  inefficiency  of 
ill-paid  teachers,  being,  in  fact,  the  necessary  result  of  hasty  and 
superficial  work  ;  but  it  arose  also  from  the  systematic  neglect  of 
the  modern  tongue,  which  was  neither  used  as  the  natural  avenue 
to  the  hearts  and  brains  of  the  pupils,  nor  as  the  most  effective 
stimulus  to  the  intellectual  acquisition  of  English.  The  notion 
indeed  that  the  mother  tongue  is  of  no  use  in  school  training,  and 
should  be  altogether  discarded  in  the  region  of  intellectual  culture 
— however  inconsistent  with  any  true  ideal  of  a  Highland  education 
— has  prevailed  to  a  large  extent  among  the  Highlanders,  and  has 
done  as  much  harm  to  their  moral  and  intellectual  character,  as 
the  illegitimate  intrusion  of  deer-forests  into  the  natural  domain  of 
the  crofter,  or  the  mania  for  monster  sheep  farms,  has  done  to  their 
physical  well-being.  And  if  in  the  matter  of  deer-forests  and  sheep 
farms,  it  may  seem  natural  for  the  Highlander  to  mutter  his  curses 
chiefly  against  the  Lowland  stranger  (though  I  do  not  think  that 
these  curses  are  in  all  cases  levelled  against  the  prime  offenders),  it 


8  TRANSACTIONS. 

is  on  the  other  hand  undeniable  that  for  the  neglect  of  the  teaching 
of  their  own  language  in  schools,  and  for  the  disgraceful  fact  that 
a  great  proportion  of  Highlanders  can  read  neither  their  Gaelic  nor 
their  English  Bibles  in  any  proper  fashion,  the  Highlanders  them- 
selves are  the  party  principally  to  blame ;  and  the  Highlanders  of 
all  classes,  I  fear,   from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.     It  is  to  be 
regarded  as  a  great  social  misfortune  that  so  very  few  of  the  High- 
land proprietors  take  any  thought  of  the  pleasure  and  privilege  of 
being  able  to  speak  in  the  kindly  accent  of  the  mother  tongue  to 
the  people,  by  the  sweat  of  whose  brow,  and  the  labour  of  whose 
hands,  they  hold  their  position  in  the  social  economy  of  the  eoun- 
try.     It  is  a  well  known  fact,  that  so  far  from  doing  their  natural 
duty  in  this  matter,  and  cultivating  a  close  and  familiar  relation 
with  the  tenantry,  not  a  few  of  the  best  proprietors — perhaps  the 
majority  of  them — systematically  taught  their  children  to  avoid 
the  mother  tongue  lest  they  should  corrupt  their  English  !     And 
when  in  addition  to  this  would-be  genteel  snobbery,  teaching  them 
to  disown  the  kindly  accents  of  their  mother  tongue,  the  organ  in 
which  so  much  noble  lyric  poetry  has  been  expressed,  and  even 
now  is  being  expressed,  they  got  into  the  habit  of  sending  their 
sons  to  England  for  education  (at  a  time,  too,  when  education  in 
English  schools  and  colleges  was  as  shallow  and  as  hollow  as  it 
possibly  could  be  !),  it  was  only  natural  that  the  future  lords  of 
the  inheritance  of  the  Macleods  and  Macdonalds  should  return  to 
their  Highland  homes  with  nothing  Highland  about  them  but  the 
kilt  on  a  show  day,  and  a  piper  with  naked  legs  and  puffed  cheeks 
strutting  before  the  door  at  stated  hours.     The  upper  classes  in  the 
Highlands  were,  with  a  few  noble  exceptions,  systematically  de- 
nationalised ;  and  the  middle  classes,  where  a  middle  class  existed 
— for  the  old  tacksmen  wisely  took  flight  when  they  saw  that  they 
were  to  be  overwhelmed  by  the  invasion  of  the  shepherd  kings 
from  Tweedside — the  middle  classes,  with  the  flunkeyism  which  in 
an  aristocratic  country  naturally  clings  to  them,  were  not  slow  to 
follow  their  example.     Even  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  who,  one 
might  have  thought,  should  have  been  above  such  worldly-minded 
views  and  such  aping  of  the  fashions  of  the  rich  and  powerful, 
were  found  in  their  own  manses  teaching  their  Highland  daughters 
to  sing  to  the  piano,  anything  rather  than  the  patriotic  strains  and 
the    manly   sentiments   of  their   own   great  bards.     Gaelic  was 
Vulgar ;  Alastair  Macdonald  was  not  known  in  Belgravia ;  and 
Tennyson  was  fashionable  \  and  the   minister's  daughters  had  an 
ambition  to  be,  not  what  God  made  them,  noble  Highland  women, 


FIFTH   ANNUAL   ASSEMBLY. 

but  fine  London  ladies,  and  that  was  enough.  Even  the  ministers 
themselves- — some  of  them  at  least,  I  fear—  were  base  enough  to 
wish  Gaelic  dead,  in  order  that  they  might  have  a  better  chance 
for  a  rich  Lowland  living,  and  not  be  laughed  at  when  they  went 
up  to  Edinburgh,  on  account  of  the  use  which  Highlanders  some- 
times make  of  their  nasal  organ  in  speaking  !  With  all  this  base- 
ness and  servility  and  lack  of  a  healthy  self-esteem  among  the 
upper  classes,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  poorer  classes,  though  they 
still  cling  obstinately  to  the  Gaelic,  and  love  to  say  their  prayers 
only  in  the  mother  tongue,  became  in  many  cases  practically  in- 
different to  their  Gaelic  Bibles,  and  were  content  to  submit  to  have 
the  Highland  soul  sucked  out  of  them  by  a  Lowland  schoolmaster 
who  had  been  at  the  University  forsooth,  and  could  spell  through 
an  ode  of  old  Roman  Horace  in  a  lame  sort  of  way,  but  who  knew 
no  more  of  the  Gaelic  Bible  and  of  the  Gaelic  Bards,  and  of  every- 
thing that  a  Highland  teacher  ought  specially  to  know,  than  he 
did  of  Chinese.  Thus  Gaelic  was  gradually  extruded  from  its 
natural  place  in  Highland  schools ;  and  the  Lowlander,  who 
believed  only  in  himself,  and  the  supposed  divine  mission  of  the 
Teut  to  trample  out  the  Celt  on  all  the  public  platforms  of  High- 
land life  except  the  pulpit,  triumphed  gloriously.  But  we  have 
not  yet  come  to  the  worst.  The  death  warrant  which  the  High- 
landers had  been  thus  preparing  for  their  o  vn  language  and  litera- 
ture, was  to  be  signed  by  the  law  ;  and  the  mother  tongue,  which 
before  had  only  been  fashionably  neglected,  was  now  to  be  legally 
banished  from  the  schools.  A  code  for  Highlanders,  proposed  by 
a  conclave  of  red  tape  educational  doctrinaires  in  mighty  London, 
could  not  be  expected  to  recognise  such  a  vulgar  thing  as  a  Gaelic 
Bible  or  a  Gaelic  song-book.  Red  tape  is  not  fond  to  recognise 
local  feelings  or  local  rights  ;  it  delights  in  the  monotony  of  a  cen- 
tral rule.  Mighty  Metropolitan  Nimrods,  indeed,  who  swarm  in 
the  Houses  of  Commons  and  Lords,  might  easily  obtain  from  the 
highest  imperial  authority  a  recognition  of  deer  in  glens  where 
men  used  to  be,  and  of  grouse  on  the  unfenced  moors ;  but  a  re- 
cognition of  the  right  of  the  poor  Highland  cottar  to  be  taught  to 
read  his  own  Highland  Bible  in  his  own  Highland  school  was 
never  dreamt  of.  The  law  protects  the  rich ;  but  the  poor  protect 
themselves,  and  go  to  the  wall.  That  was  the  plain  English  of  the 
matter.  By  the  Education  Code  a  bribe  was  held  forth  to  the 
poor  schoolmaster  that  he  should  teach  English  and  not  teach 
Gaelic,  even  when  he  was  able.  And  thus  we  may  certainly  say 
that  the  London  Code — for  it  was  forged  in  London,  though  it  has 


10  TRANSACTIONS. 

now  put  a  Scotch  coat  on  for  the  nonce — and  the  Scottish  School 
Boards,  which  carry  out  its  principles,  are  burying  the  Highland- 
ers alive,  whence  death  will  necessarily  follow  ;  for  a  people  never 
can  live  when  the  language  has  been  taken  from  them  in  which  all 
their  heroic  traditions  and  all  their  noblest  inspirations  are  em- 
balmed. Without  Gaelic  the  Highlander  will  be  a  Highlander  no 
longer ;  he  will  not  only  be  lost  as  a  special  type  of  the  Briton 
whom  history  and  poetry  combined  to  honour,  but  he  will  be 
humiliated  and  degraded,  as  in  fact  he  has  been  in  a  great  measure 
already.  His  education,  divorced  from  the  fine  emotional  inspira- 
tion that  flowed  from  his  rich  popular  poetry,  will  become  hard 
and  square,  and  unlovely — what  we  are  accustomed  to  call  utilita- 
rian— that  is,  an  education  useful  for  the  acquisition  of  things 
external — the  material  and  tangible  and  bodily — but  useless 
for  reaching  those  fountains  of  living  water  from  within, 
which,  when  properly  stimulated,  poxir  themselves  forth  in  streams 
that  irrigate  and  fertilise  and  make  fragrant  and  beautiful  our  best 
men.  What  then,  we  are  now  bound  to  ask,  can  the  Highlanders 
do,  now  that  their  language  and  their  nationality  have  been  syste- 
matically disowned  by  the  educational  authorities  of  the  country  ? 
What  can  the  Highlanders  do — those  of  them  at  least  who  believe 
in  themselves,  and  have  not  already  become  diminished  and  de- 
graded editions  of  John  Bull  ?  What  can  they  do  to  keep  them- 
selves alive  a  little  longer,  and,  if  they  must  die,  at  all  events  to 
die  standing,  and  like  true  Highlanders  ?  There  is  only  one  device 
to  save  them  from  total  obliteration.  What  the  Government 
won't  do  for  them,  let  them  do  for  themselves.  If  schoolmasters 
must  be  bribed  in  this  mercenary  age  and  in  this  mercantile  coun- 
try, let  us  bribe  them  to  be  good  Highlanders.  Let  all  Gaelic 
societies  set  apart  annually  a  portion  of  their  funds  for  an  increase 
of  salary  to  the  schoolmasters  who  teach  Gaelic,  and  for  prizes  to 
the  best  Gaelic  readers.  This  could  easily  be  done.  But  the  way 
will  not  be  found  unless  there  be  a  wish  and  a  will — a  warm  wish, 
and  a  firm  will,  and  a  will  altogether — there  lies  the  difficulty.  If 
the  best  half  of  the  Highlanders  are  already  in  Otago  and  Canada 
and  Melbourne,  and  if  one  half  of  the  other  half  is  altogether 
Saxonised  or  in  various  ways  sold  to  the  Saxon,  what  can  the  poor 
remaining  half  of  the  residuary  half  do  ?  That  is  your  province  to 
consider.  I  am  a  Lowlander,  and  can  only  give  advice.  If  you 
are  not  fit  to  lead  yourselves  in  this  matter,  you  are  not  worthy  to 
be  led  at  all.  The  third  and  last  matter  to  which  the  Gaelic 
societies  should  direct  their  attention  is  the  proper  equipment  aud 


FIFTH   ANNUAL   ASSEMBLY.  11 

utilisation  of  the  Celtic  Chair  about  to  be  established  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh.  This  Chair,  for  which  the  subscribed  funds 
now  amount  to  above  £8500,  is  sure  to  be  set  at  full  work  in  a 
very  few  years,  if  it  were  only  by  the  natural  increase  of  the  paid 
up  fund ;  though  I  must  say  in  passing,  now  that  a  Celtic  Chair 
has  already  been  founded  in  Oxford,  with  £600  a-year  as  salary, 
it  will  be  a  thing  not  particularly  creditable  to  the  Caledonian 
intellect  if  this  event  do  not  take  place  within  a  twelvemonth  from 
the  present  date.  But,  however  that  be,  the  practical  result  of  the 
established  Chair  will  depend  very  much  on  the  determination  ot 
the  Highlanders  themselves  to  do  justice  to  the  exertions  of  the 
professor  in  expatiating  scientifically  on  the  language,  poetry, 
history,  and  antiquities  of  the  great  Celtic  family  in  these  islands. 
One  thing  that  the  professor  will  have  to  do  is  to  see,  in  the  first 
place,  that  the  preachers  of  the  Gospel  destined  for  Highland 
parishes  shall  be  trained  to  the  idioma.tic  and  elegant  use — after  the 
model  of  the  great  Macleod,  the  author  of  the  Teachdaire — of  the 
language  of  the  people.  Another  important  matter  is  that  the 
same  class  of  persons,  viz.,  the  ministers,  shall  be  taught  to  esti- 
mate the  poetry  and  literature  of  the  language  in  which  they 
preach  in  a  more  liberal  fashion  than  they  have  done  hitherto,  and 
from  what  I  hear,  have  been  accustomed  to  do.  There  must  be  no 
narrow-minded  preference  for  sermons,  and  Dan  SpioradaU ;  no 
illiberal  squinting  at  Duncan  Ban  because  he  was  a  gamekeeper, 
or  Alastair  Macdonald,  that  he  was  a  Papist.  Then  the  young 
men  who  study  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  must  be  taught  that 
their  own  Gaelic  is  in  many  respects,  as  a  language,  not  less  worthy 
of  attention,  and  particularly  presents  a  most  interesting  array  of 
linguistic  facts  that  have  not  yet  received  the  attention  which  they 
deserve  from  the  comparative  philologers.  A  similar  training  will 
prepare  the  Highland  schoolmaster  for  the  more  effective  discharge  of 
his  duties  ;  for  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  in  the  mind  of  an  intelligent 
educationist  that  a  scientific  knowledge  of  the  mother  tongue  will  be 
an  instrument  of  the  most  admirable  power,  in  the  hands  of  a  teacher, 
who  is  teaching  Highland  young  persons,  English  or  Latin,  er  any 
language.  In  this  as  in  other  matters  judgment  is  formed  by  com- 
parison ;  and  the  mother  tongue  in  this  regard  presents  a  large  and 
rich  and  an  accessible  field  of  culture,  which  nothing  else  can  com- 
pensate, and  which  only  a  shallow  sciolist,  or  a  narrow  pedant 
will  despise.  And  in  order  to  achieve  these  results  which  will 
naturally  proceed  from  the  Celtic  Chair,  it  will  be  necessary  to 


12  ^L  TRANSACTIONS. 

attach  to  the  professorship  some  half  dozen  of  bursaries — scholar- 
ships, or  fellowships,  as  they  are  called  in  England — to  enable 
destined  schoolmasters  and  preachers  to  travel,  and  study  not  only 
in  the  Highlands,  but  in  "Wales,  in  Ireland,  and  in  Bretagne,  and 
the  Isle  of  Man,  whatever  belongs  to  the  topography,  antiquities, 
poetry,  traditions,  and  history  of  the  various  Celtic  peoples ;  and 
at  the  same  time  to  acquire  by  studying  under  the  great  foreign 
scholars  a  standard  of  excellence  in  philology  far  transcending 
what  they  have  been  accustomed  to  be  satisfied  with  at  home.  All 
this  will  tend  to  restore  to  the  Celt  in  some  degree  that  position 
in  the  intellectual  world  which,  by  his  own  neglect  and  misfor- 
tune, rather  than  by  the  fault  of  others,  has  been  hitherto  denied 
him.  One  other  remark  I  wish  to  make  in  conclusion.  I  think 
if  the  Highland  Societies  mean  to  do  anything  effective  in  the  way 
of  stimulating  Highland  life,  Highland  sentiment,  and  Highland 
prosperity,  they  should  unite  and  form  one  great  association  for 
the  purposes  of  common  action.  I  borrow  this  suggestion  from  a 
series  of  admirable  papers  in  the  last  year's  volume  of  the  Gael, 
entitled  "Levers  to  Elevate  our  Peasantry,"  signed  Machaon, 
which  I  recommend  to  the  serious  consideration  of  all  true  lovers 
of  the  Highlanders.  What  such  an  association  might  achieve,  I 
am  not  wise  enough  to  prophesy;  but  I  know  that  union  is 
strength  ;  I  know  that  combination  and  organisation  have  done 
great  things  in  other  domains ;  and  if  the  Highlanders  are  not 
altogether  depressed,  dispirited,  and  degraded,  1  do  not  see  why  it 
should  not  be  able  to  do  something  for  them  also. 

During  the  delivery  of  his  address  a  Gaelic  telegram  from  Mr 
Mackay,  Shrewsbury,  congratulating  the  meeting,  was  handed  to 
the  Professor.  The  telegram  was  read  among  the  plaudits  of  the 
audience— the  Professor  adding  that  John  Mackay  was  "  one  of 
the  noblest  and  best  men  alive."  The  Professor  was  frequently 
cheered  as  he  delivered  his  address,  and  resumed  his  seat  amidst 
deafening  cheers. 

Miss  Maclernan  sang,  with  her  usual  good  taste,  "  The  Flowers 
of  the  Forest."  The  Highland  Fling  was  then  danced  most  grace- 
fully and  vigorously  by  Mr  Angus  Gordon,  Abernethy.  Mr 
Donald  Graham,  Glasgow,  followed  with  a  Gaelic  song,  "  Beinn 
Nibheis,"  and  elicited  the  warm  applause  of  the  audience,  an  encore 
being  demanded  and  responded  to.  Miss  Westland  next  appeared, 
and  sang  "  Wae's  me  for  Prince  Charlie "  very  sweetly  and  plea- 
santly. 


FIFTH  ANNUAL  ASSEMBLY.  13 

Mrs  Mary  Mackell-ir,  Edinburgh,  the  Bard  of  the  Society,  was 
then  introduced.  She  recited,  amid  cheers,  the  following  poem 
composed  by  her  for  the  occasion  : — 

"COMHRADH    EADAR   AM   BARD   'S   A  CHLARSACH. 

"Am  Bard. 

"  A  chlarsach  ghaoil,  O  !  c'uime  nochd, 
Nach  cluinn  mi  uat  ach  osna  throm  ? 
'Nuair  b  'aill  leam  luinneag  bhi  gu  binn 
'Seirm  feadh  gach  coill,  is  machair  lorn. 

"  0  mosguil,  a  Chlarsach  na  Tuath  ! 
Cha  b'e  do  dhual'chas  caoi-ran  broin, 
Is  toinnidh  mis'  umad  iadh-chrann, 
Min-fhraoch  nam  beann  is  canach  loin. 

"  Is  trie  a  mhol  thu  le  h-ard  phone 
Na  mic  shonna  a  thoill  do  rainn, 
Duisg  is  seinn  do  'n  Chomunn  chaomh 
A  tha  an  diugh  na  d'  aobhar  cruinn  ! 

"  Is  iomadh  sar  bhios  cruinn  a  nochd, 
'S  an  comhradh  ard  mu  thir  an  fhraoich, 
Tir  nam  beann  's  nan  gleanntan  aigh 
Is  trie  a  dh'  araich  na  sar-laoich. 

"  An  comhradh  binn  mu  chainnt  nam  Fiann 

Leam  is  miann  bhi  'g  eisdeachd  riu, 

Is  pioban  tartrach  le  binn  cheol 

A'  toirt  na  tim  a  dh'fhalbh  dhuinn  dlu — 

"  A'  dusgadh  fearalachd  's  gach  sonn  ; 
Is  baintighearnan,  le  fonn  neo-ghann, 
A'  deanamh  gairdeachas  le  h-aoibh 
An  cuimhneachan  nan  saoi  a  bh'  ann. 

i* 
"A'  Chlarsach. 

"  A  nighean  ghaoil,  gur  mor  mo  run 
Do  Chomunn  ur  nam  fiuran  treun ; 
Mar  bhata  do  laimh  an  fhir  aosd' 
Tha  comhnadh  nan  laoch  dhomh  fhein — 


1 4  TRANSACTIONS. 

"  lad  dhomh  mar  bhraonaibh  ciuin  a'  Mhaigh, 
A  bheir  caoin-bhlath  air  his  is  geig  ; 
Mar  ghathan  soluis  na  coinnle, 
A  bheir  drills'  air  soillse  na  leug. 

"  Mar  aiteal  grein  do'n  duine  thinn, 
Mar  chopan  fion  do'n  chridhe  fhann, 
Tha  na  Comuinn  so,  toirt  beath  as  ur 
Do  chlarsach  bha  tursa  feadh  bheann. 

"  Ach  cha  sheinn  mi  luinneag  a  nochd, 
'S  air  caithream  ard  cha  dean  mi  luaidh, 
'S  ann  tha  mi  ri  mulad  's  id  caoidh 
Mu  thir  mo  ghaoil  's  mu  chlann  mo  shluaigh. 

"  Thig  leamsa  gu  Beinn  Nimheis  ard, 
'S  a  ris  gu  Beinn  Fhuathais  an  fheoir, 
Is  ma  tha  faireachduinn  na  d'  chri' 
Chi  thu  na  bheir  uat  do  threoir — 

"  Na  bothain  chleachd  bhi  air  gach  raon, 
Is  gu  dlu  mu  thaobh  nam  beann, 
'S  fuar  an  teallaich  's  fad  air  faontraidh 
An  dream  ghaolach  chleachd  bhi  annt. 

"  Far  am  biodh  mnathan  caoin-gheal,  grinn, 
A'  togail  am  maothrain  a  suas, 
Gu  ceatharna  fhoigheantach  laidir, 
Bu  ro  mhath  a  phaigheadh  an  duais. 

"  Ou  ursannan  catha  nach  geilleadh, 
Ged  a  bhiodh  an  eiginn  cruaidh  ; 
Bu  smior  iad  an  cnaimh  nan  ceann-feadhna. 
Ged  'se  nochda  sgeul  mo  thruaigh  ! 

"  Nach  fhaicear  an  clann  air  na  raoin, 
No  'n  oigridh  na'n  sgaothan  's  na  glinn  ; 
Is  luinneag  buana,  bleothain,  no  luaidh 
Cha  chluinnear  o  ghruagaicnean  grinn. 

"  Dream  mhor  gun  fheinealachd,  gun  cheilg, 
'S  na'n  rioghalachd  bu  choma  leo 
Ged  a  mharbht'  an  teaghlaich  's  iad  fhein 
Na'm  biodh  an  cinn-fheadhna  beo  ! 


FIFTH    ANNUAL    ASSEMBLY.  15 

"  Cha  chluinn  mi  'nochd  an  tir  an  fhraoich 
Ach  coin  is  caoraich,  's  glaodhaich  Ghall, 
'S  cha  'n  ioghnadh  mis'  a  bhi  ri'  caoidh 
'S  mo  theud  a  bhi  gu  h-aoibhneas  mall. 

"  Am  Sard. 

"  Is  ioghnadh  leam  fhein  do  chainnt, 
A  chlarsach  ghrinn  nan  teudan  oir, 
Ged  is  sgapt'  tha  sliochd  nam  fear 
A  thogadh  creach  's  a  leanadh  toir. 

"  Cha  choir  ga  d'  phonc-sa  a  bhi  tursach, 
Is  uaibhreach  a  dh'fheudas  tu  seinn, 
'S  lionmhor,  ainmeal  feadh  an  t-saoghail 
Sliochd  na  laochraidh  bha  na  d'  ghlinn. 

"  Cha'n  eil  nx  bh'ann  ri  m'  linn  fhein 
Do  ghniomh  euchdach,  a  sheinneadh  Bard, 
Anns  nach  robh  pairt  ga  d'  chloinn  air  tus 
A'  cosnadh  cliu  is  urram  ard. 

"  Bha  Sir  Cailean  le  Ghaidheil  threun' 
Riamh  buadh'ar  'san  streup  mar  bu  dual, 
Le  'm  pioban  '&  am  brataichean  sroil 
'S  an  claidh'an  mor  is  goirt  a  bhuail ! 

"  Ach  cha  'n  ann  'sa  chogadh  a  mhain 
A  choisnear  deadh  chliu  le  do  shuinn, 
Ni  mo  's  ann  a  direadh  nam  beann 
A  shealg  an  daimh  's  na  h-eilid  duinn. 

"  Ach  an  cogadh  a  mhaith  ris  an  olc, 
Na'n  treun  ghaisgich  churanta  mhor, 
A'  claoidh  luchd  foirneart  amis  gach  tir, 
'S  a'  cumail  neart  ri  luchd  na  coir. 

"  A'  giulan  soluis  gu  duthchan  cian 
'S  a  measg  fhineachan  a  b'  fhiadhaich  greann, 
Mar  ghathan  oir  troimh  na  dubh-neoil 
An  casan  gloir-mhor  air  gach  beann. 

"  An  t-ollamh  Duff  sa  chiabhan  Hath 
Na  'n  coron  sgiamhach  air  an  treun, 
Sar  ghaisgeach  an  cogadh  na  firinn — 
'S  tha  am  ncili'  ud  leat  fein. 


16  TRANSACTIONS. 

"  'S  am  Muileach,  Daibhidh  Mac  Dhunleibhe, 
Mar  reul  na  maidinn  'san  tir  chian, 
Thriall  e  troimh  neoil  is  deuchain  gheur 
A  dh-innseadh  gu'n  eireadh  a'  glirian. 

"  Mar  abstol  ard  bha  e  do'n  t-sluagh 
Nach  cuala  mu  fhlaitheas  no  Dia, 
Is  bhriseadh  leis  cuibhreach  an  traill 
Mu'n  d'fhalbh  e  gu  Parais  an  Triath. 

"  Dh'  fhag  e  mar  dbileab  g*  a  dhuthaich 
Cungaidh  a  chur  ris  a  lot  chruaidh, 
Slabhruidh  an  truaghain  a  bhristeadh 
'S  a  thoirt  gu  meas  a  measg  an  t-sluaigh. 

"  'S  an  t-oigfhear  a  chaidb.  mach  'na  lorg 
Feadh  fineachan  borba  tir  na  grein, 
Is  Camshronach  o  Lochaidh  e, 
Meangan  ard  dhe  d'  chraobhan  fein. 

"  'S  tha  air  do  chul  na  dh'innseas  deas 
Do  bhuadhan  's  a  sheasas  ard-chuis 
Do  dhaoine,  do  dhuthcha  's  do  cheol, 
O'n  Bhanrigh  mhoir  is  caomha  gnuis. 

"  'S  Ceann-feadhna  gaoil  a  Chomuinn  aigh 
A  sheinn  sinn,  a  chlarsach  nan  teud, 
An  t-ard-fheallsanach,  Blackie  nam  buadh, 
Ceannard  uasal  measg  nan  ceud  ! 

"  'Nuair  tharruingeas  e  'chlaidheamh  le  smachd 
Is  niarachd  mac  bbios  dhxiit  na  namh  j 
Is  ge  b'e  labhras  foil  mu  d'  thir 
Bheir  e  chri'  dha  's  a  dheas  lamb.. 

"  Mile  failte  do'n  Cheann-fheadhna  ! 

'S  do  Chomunn  greadhnach  tir  an  fhraoich, 

Tir  thuathach  nam  fearaibh  laidir 

A  bbios,  mar  bha  iad  riamb,  na'n  laoich  !  " 

The  party  of  young  ladies  then  appeared  and  sang  the  old 
favourite  boat  song,  "  Fear  a'  Bhata."  And  here  it  may  be  men- 
tioned that  the  ladies  forming  this  party  were :  —Miss  Young, 


FIFTH    ANNUAL    ASSEMBLY.  17 

Huntly  Street ;  Miss  Forbes,  Clachnaharry ;  Miss  Mackintosh, 
Douglas  Row ;  Miss  Sharp,  High  Street ;  Misses  Mackintosh, 
Drummond  ;  Miss  Flora  Matheson,  Denny  Street ;  Miss  Mary 
Macrae,  Hill  Street ;  Miss  Macdonald,  Castle  Street,  and  Miss 
Mackay,  Drummond. 

The  next  speaker  was  the   Rev.  Alexander  Macgregor.     He 
said — Fhir-shuidhe  Urramaich, — Cha  bheag  an  toil-inntinn,  ach  a's 
mo     na  sin    a'  chomain    a  bhuilicheadh   air    Comunii  Gailig    a' 
bhaile  so,  le  bhi  ga  d'   fhaidiiu  a'  cur  niaise  air  a'  chaithir  sin,  air 
am  bheil  thu  'n  ad  shuidhe  air  an  fheasgar  so.     Tha  'n  daiinhealas, 
an   cairdeas,   agus  an   deagh-ran  leis  am  bheil  do  chridhe  air  a 
dheachdadh  a  thaobh  nan  Gaidheal,  'n  an  nithe  air  ain  bheil  deagh- 
fhios  againn  uile — agus  'n  an  nithe  a  ta  'dusgadh  suas  teas-ghradh 
a'  Chomuinn  so  do  d'  thaobh  !     Ged  tha  fuil  nan  Gall  'n  ad    chuis- 
libh  fein,  gidheadh,  tha  thu  'dea.namh  gach  spairne  'n  ad  chomas 
chum  an  fhuil  sin  a  dheanamh  ni's  deine  agus  ni's  deirge,  le  deagh- 
fhaile   fallain  agus  fiorghlan  nan  gleann  agus  nan  garbh-chrioch 
Gaidhealach.       Ged  nach  deachaidh  agad  fathasd  air  saill,  no  suit, 
no  reamhrachd  a  chur  air  na  cnamhaibh  cmaidh  sin  a  mgadh 
leat,    gidbeadh,  tha  thu   ullamh,  ealainh,   susbainneach,  subailte, 
chum  gach  cuis  agus  cleachdadh  a  bhuineas  do  na  Gaidheil  ath- 
leasachadh.     Is  mor  am   feum  a  ta  aca  air  Fear-tagraidh  co  dich- 
iottach,  dian,  dealasach,  ris-san  a  ta  co  freagarrach  'n  a  shuidhe  air 
an  ceann  an  nochd.       Saoghal  fad'  agus  deagh-bheatha  dha  !      Is 
solasach   an    ni   gu'm    bheil    an    Comunn   so,    bliadhn'   an  deigh 
bliadhna,  a'  dol  ann  am  nieud.     Tha  na  buill  aige  a'  fas,  a  chuid 
's  a  chuid,  ni's  lionmhoir'  ;  tha  na  ruintean  agus  na  cuspairean  a  ta 
aige  'san  arnharc  a'  soirbheachadh  ceum  air  cheum — agus  tha  gach 
deagh-run  agus  dochas  a  nochdadh  air  tus  m'a  thimchioll,  air  am 
fireanachadh   chum   na   cuid   a's   fhaide.       Cha'n   'eil   an    diugh 
cinneach  fo'n  ghrein  a'a  airde  cliu  na  na  Gaidheil.     Gun  ghuth 
a  thoirt  aig   an  am   air  an   ga;sgo,  an  euchd,  agus  an  treubhan- 
tas  ann  am  builsgean  gach  cruadail  anus  an  robh  iad  anns  gach 
cearnuidh  dhe'n  t-saoghal  — tha  na  Lunnainich  ft  in  a'  toirt  dearbh- 
aidh  a  nis  air  a'  mheas  a  ta  aca  air  danaibh,  ceol,  agus  bardachd 
shliochd  nam  beann  !     Faicibh  gach  cruinneachadh  a  bha  o  cheann 
ghoirid  ann  am  Priomh-bhaile  na  rioghachd,  far  an  do  lion  an 
Comunn  Gaelach  cridheachan   nam  bantighearnan  Sasunnach  le 
toil-inntinn  gu'n  choimeas,  'n  am  doibh  a  bhi  'g  eisdeachd  ri  "  Gu 
ma  slan  a  chi  mi  mo  chailin  dileas,  donn  "  agus  ri  oranaibh  eile 
dhe'n  ghne  sin  !     Tha  sin  idle  taitneach,  agus  ro  thaitneach  do  'n 
Chomunn  cheanalta    againii  fein,    a    rhmoadh  st  *s  le  buiil  a  ta 

A 


TRANSACTIONS. 

measail  agus  uasal,  treibhdhireach,  agus  cliu-thoilltinneach ! 
Gu  robh  buaidh  leo,  oir  tha  na  cuisean  cianail  agus  cruaidh  gu'm 
biodh  na  Gaidheil  a  bha  riamh  co  dileas  agus  treun  arm  a  bhi 
'dionadh  na  rioghachd  anns  gach  linn,  air  an  sarachadh  agus  air  an 
claoidh,  mar  a  tha  iad  air  an  la  'n  diugh.  Tha  iad  air  an  greasadh 
leis  na  Goill  ann  an  criochaibh  cumhann  ;  agus  tha  na  machraichean 
agus  na  glinn  anns  an  d'  araicheadh  iomadh  curaidh  gaisgeil  agus 
calma,  air  am  fagail  a  nis  aig  na  feidh,  agus  aig  na  cearcan-fraoich  ! 
C'ait  am  faighear  a  nis  an  laochraidh  gharg,  agus  na  fir  chuimear, 
chalma,  cheanalta  sin,  a  bha  'nam  milltibh  ann  an  aireimh,  deas 
aig  gach  gairm,  gu  dol  a  mach  fo  'n  ceannardaibh  crodha,  a  chogadh 
an  aghaidh  naimhdean  na  rioghachd  1  Cfait  am  faighear  iad  sin  a 
nis  ?  Ma  shiubhlar  air  feadh  nan  gleann  agus  nan  garbh-chrioch 
anns  an  d'  aruicheadh  na  seoid  sin  nach  tionndaidheadh  an  cul  ri 
caraid  no  ri  namhaid,  ciod  a  chithear  an  diugh  1  O  an  sealladh 
bronach  !  Cha'n  fhaicear  a  thall  agus  a  bhos,  ach  aos-laraichean 
nan  aros  anns.  an  d'  rugadh  iomadh  treun-ghaisgeach,  air  an  lionadh 
leis  na  cluaranaibh,  an  eanntagach,  agus  le  brogan-na-cuaige  ! 
Sealladh  gun  teagamh  bronach  !  Am  famh  agus  an  ialtag  a' 
gabhail  comhnuidh  ann  am  fardaichibh  nam  flath  sgiamhach,  a 
chuir  an  teicheadh  air  gach  namh  an  aghaidh  an  deachaidh  iad 
riamh  a  mach.  Togaidh  gach  cearnadh  dhe  'n  t-saoghal  fianuis  air 
fearalas  agus  euchd  shliochd  nam  beann  Albannach.  Cha 
dichuimhnichear  gu  brath  an  gaisge  anns  an  Eiphit  agus  anns  na 
h-Innsibh — anns  an  Spainn  agus  an  Fhrainge — agus  anns  gach 
crich  dhe  'n  talamh,  anns  an  robh  iad  ullamh,  ealamh,  mar  ghrad 
bhoisge  an  dealain,  chum  na  naimhdean  a  sgiursadh  gu  braigh- 
deanas  no  gu  bas  !  Ach,  mo  thruaigh  !  tha  na  cuisean  air  an 
atharrachadh.  Tha'n  laochraidh  so  a  nis  air  an  ruagadh  mar  na 
cearcan-coille  air  na  beanntaibh,  agus  air  am  fogaradJi  do  thiribh 
cein.  Tha  na  feidh  agus  na  caoraich  bhana  an  diugh  ag  ionaltradh 
air  na  raointibh  far  an  d'  aruicheadh  gaisgich  a  bhios  iomraideach 
am  feadh  a  mhaireas  eachdraidh  an  t-saoghail  !  Tha  gach  Comunn 
Gaidhealach  a"  deanamh  an  dichill  chum  na  truaighean  so  athleas- 
achadh,  ach  cha'n  'eil  an  obair  soirbh.  Tha'n  t-Ard-Albannach  fein 
a'  dol  gu  'dhulan  le'  bhonaid  leathainn  's  le  bhreacan-an-fheile,  chum 
a  luchd-duthcha  a  theasairginn.  Tha  caraid  dian  eile  'sa  bhaile  so 
le  leabhran  miosail  fein,  co  treun  'sa  dh'fheudas  e  air  taobh  nan 
Gaidheal.  Tha  e  co  tairis,  cruaidh  as  an  leth  ris  ^'  chabar-feidh 
sin  a  ta  aige  mar  shuaicheantas.  Tha'n  leabhran  aige  a'  boisgeadh 
soluis  a  mach  mar  shradan  teine  A  cloich  chum  a  luchd-duthcha  a 
theagasg,  agus  a  shoillseachadh  le  Gailig  agus  le  Beurla  !  Agus 


tt*"TH   AXHUAL    ASSEMBLY.  19 

am  measg  nan  Gall  fein,  gheibhear  cuid  aig  am  bheil  speis  agus 
co'-fhulangas  da*n  taobh ;  ach  cha'n  'eil  a  h-aon  'n  am  measg  gu  leir 
a  ta  co  dian,  deothasach,  daimheii,  ris  an  Ollamh  Blackie,  ar  Fear- 
suidhe  urramach  air  an  fheasgair  so  !  Tha  oibre-san  follaiseach, 
agus  mairidh  iad  an  uair  a  bhios  sinne  gu  leir  'n  ar  duslach  agus 
'n  ar  luaithre.  Is-  TJachdaran  Gaidhealach  an  t-Urramach  fogh- 
luimte,  oir  cheannaich  e  seilbh-fearainn  's  a'  Ghaidhealtachd  agus  bu 
ro  mhaith  leis  a  bhi  'na  Cheann-cinnidh — ach  cha'n  'eil  fios  agam 
ciamar  a  thigeadh  e  dha  breacan-an-fheile  a  chur  uime,  agus  osain 
ghearra  a  spadadh  air  na  casaibh  caola  sin,  Tha  eagal  orm  gu'm 
bheil  a'  choluinn  agus  na  calpanna  mo's  caol — ach  biodh  sin 
mar  a  dh'  fheudas,  tha'a  cridbe  ceart,  agus  air  an  oighreachd  aige- 
san  cha'n  fhaicear  fiadh  no  fireach.  Gu  robh  buaidh  leis-san,  agus 
leis  na  Gaidheil  da'm  bheil  mor-speis  aigt;,  oir — 

*'  Tha  iad  rianail,  ninail,  dileas, 

Is  seasnihach,  siobhalt,  coir ; 
Tha  iad  daimheii,  cairdeil,  fir'ueacli, 

Fearail,  nalaidh,  mor  ' 

*'  Cha'n  'eil  eolas  ac*  air  mi-run, 

'S  cha  mhi-ghean  leo  a*  choir ; 
Bunailteach  a  ghnath  do'n  fhirinn, 

'S  air  ceartas  dian  an  toir. 

41  'S  binn,  ro  bhinn,  a'  chanain  ghrinn  ac', 

Gu'n  choimeas  'n  tir  fo'n  ghrein ; 
Canain  ghlan,  a  gheibh  'san  linn  so, 

Gach  cuideachadh  u,'s  speis. 

"  Tha  luchd-daimh  nan  Gaidheal  lionmhor, 

Is  dian  an  cairdean  treun  ; 
Blackie  'n  aigh  !  'se  fein  an  dion  ac', 

Ni's  treis'  na  each  gu  leir  ! 

"  Gu  siubhlach,  subailt,  susbainneach, 

Gu  h-ullamh,  ealamh,  geur ; 
Gu  cliarach,  briathrach,  cuspaireach, 

Gu  fior-ghlan  mar  an  seud. 

"  Gu  robh  e  son',  gu  robh  e  buan, 

Gu  robh  e  beo,  gu'm  faic 
E  caithir  na  Gailige  gu  luath, 

Air  'steidheachadh  le  taic  ! 
A  2 


20  TRANSACTIONS. 

"  0  !  togaibh  iolach  gairdeachais, 

Do  Bhlackie,  'n  t-Olladh  caomh ! 
O  !  furan  's  failt  's  an  ait'  so  dha, 

Mar  Cheannard  air  bhur  taobh  ! " 

The  address  "was  attentively  listened  to,  and  cordially  applauded. 

Mr  Finlay  Gumming,  Ross-shire,  then  sang  "  Mo  Mhaili  Bheag 
Og."  Mr  W.  G.  Stuart  thereafter  appeared  in  the  comic  sketch 
"Tunis  Eachainn  do  Phaisley,"  and,  in  answer  to  an  encore,  he 
recited  "  A  Vision  of  Ossian  and  the  Celtic  Chair,"  by  Professor 
Blackie,  which  gained  the  high  commendation  not  only  of  the 
audience  but  also  of  the  author  of  the  poem.  During  a  brief  in- 
terval Pipe-Major  Maclennan  discoursed  several  pieces  of  music  on 
the  bagpipes. 

Tulloch  then  spoke  briefly.  He  concurred  entirely  with  the 
remarks  of  their  Chief  as  to  the  evils  of  the  depopulation  of  the 
Highlands,  and  lamented  them  as  much  as  any  man.  For  himself 
he  had  never  turned  a  man  off  his  estate  without  cause  given.  He 
begged  to  say  that  while  in  the  Highlands  there  were  some  who 
will  not  consider  the  rights  of  the  peasantry,  yet  there  were  others 
who  would  not  entertain  the  idea  of  depopulating  the  country. 
But  it  might  be  it  was  not  in  their  power  to  carry  out  the  schemes 
sketched  out  by  the  Chairman.  The  Duke  of  Sutherland  was 
placed  in  a  position  to  do  so.  He  could  say  to  this  man  go  to 
the  right  and  he  did  it,  and  to  that  other  man  go  the  left  and  he 
also  did  it ;  and  there  were  others  quite  as  willing  to  follow  his 
example,  but,  as  he  had  said,  they  lacked  the  power  and  means. 
After  some  other  remarks,  he  concluded  by  saying  that  it  should 
be  to  them  a  feeling  of  great  gratification  that  this  Society  had  a 
man  so  able  for  their  Chief — a  man  who  was  doing  his  best  to 
dispel  the  mists  which  surround  the  Gaelic  language,  its  literature 
and  traditions,  and  was  also  doing  what  he  could  to  allow  the  sun- 
shine of  knowledge  to  break  forth  so  as  to  enlighten  and  instruct 
his  fellow-countrymen  on  Celtic  subjects. 

Mr  Donald  Graham  then  sang  "  Failte  Bhraidalbann "  in  ex- 
cellent style,  and  having  been  encored,  gave  "Moladh  na  Landaidh." 

The  next  speaker  was  Mr  D.  Campbell,  Vice-President  of  the 
Greenock  Ossian  Club.  After  alluding  in  very  complimentary 
terms  to  the  services  which  Mr  Fraser-Mackintosh  rendered  in 
Parliament  to  the  cause  of  Gaelic,  Mr  Campbell  went  on  to  say — 
Professor  Blackie  has  succeeded  so  well  with  his  project — the 
Celtic  Chair — that  apparently  little  is  necessary  for  him  but  to 


FIFTH   ANNUAL   ASSEMBLY.  21 

crown  his  noble  enterprise  by  securing  the  proper  man  to  fill  the 
Chair.  Valuable  though  the  Chair  be,  the  teaching  of  Gaelic  in 
Highland  schools  is  still  more  so — it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the 
well-being  of  the  people  and  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Highlands. 
Questions  will  arise  as  to  where  we  shall  get  men  able  to  teach 
Gaelic  grammatically,  or  at  all,  or  where  we  shall  get  inspectors 
who  can  examine  the  schools.  The  answer  is,  offer  adequate  in- 
centives to  the  study  of  the  language,  and  there  will  be  plenty  of 
candidates  to  undertake  the  task.  I  cannot  believe  that  High- 
landers have  less  love  for  their  own  language  than  Lowlanders 
have  for  theirs.  As  for  the  inspectors,  I  question  if  we  have  not 
already  enough  of  them  for  the  whole  Highlands.  There  is  Mr 
Macleod,  an  early  school-fellow  of  mine;  and  there  are  Mr  Sime 
and  Mr  Ross  ;  and  if  these  be  not  enough,  I  would  say,  take  Mac- 
kinnon  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Edinburgh  School  Board  and  make 
an  inspector  of  him .  All  these  are  Gaelic  scholars,  as  well  as  able 
men  otherwise.  It  may  be  asked  what  is  the  use  of  making  such 
a  noise  about  Gaelic  when  so  many  of  the  Highland  glens  and 
straths  are  being  depopulated.  I  -would  answer  by  referring  to  the 
work  which  the  noble  Duke  is  carrying  on  in  Sutherlandshire,  and 
I  would  say,  take  courage,  what  the  noble  Duke  is  doing  there, 
others  can  do  on  a  smaller  scale  elsewhere.  Sir  Charles  Ross  of 
Balnagown,  Bart.,  who  has  always  been  a  generous  landlord,  will 
follow  the  Duke's  example,  because  he  has  a  great  deal  of  land  on 
his  vast  estates  which  could  be  profitably  improved.  The  noble 
Duke's  example  cannot  fail  to  tell  upon  others ;  and  as  it  does,  the 
glens  and  straths  which  are  now  reserved  for  wild  animals,  will 
soon  be  re-occupied  by  a  virtuous  population,  and  peace,  content- 
ment, and  happiness  will  pervade  the  Highlands,  and  Celtic  litera- 
ture will  flourish  as  the  outcome  of  noble  minds  well  supported 
and  well  cultivated.  Perhaps  I  may  suggest  before  sitting  down 
that  this  Society  should  correspond  with  other  Highland  Societies, 
to  make  suggestions  and  work  together  in  furtherance  of  those 
objects  for  which  your  Society  was  established.  This  would  be 
"  Clanna  nan  Gaidheal  ri  guaillibh  a  cheile  "  with  double  effect. 

Mr  A.  Gordon  then  danced  "  Gille  Calum,"  and  thereafter  the 
ladies  sang  "  O  theid  sinn,  theid  sinn,  le  suigeart  agus  aoibh."  They 
received  a  hearty  encore,  and  sang  a  few  stanzas  of  "Mairi 
laghach." 

Provost  Simpson  said  he  rose  with  great  pleasure  to  propose  a 
vote  of  thanks  to  their  Chief  and  Chairman.  To-night  the  Chief 
had  almost  exceeded  himself,  and  his  address  had  been  one  of  the 


22  TRANSACTION*. 

greatest  pleasures  they  had  ever  listened  to  in  that  room.  They 
would  all  agree  that  the  Professor  was  indeed  what  he  called  him- 
self some  time  ago — the  Chief  of  all  the  Chiefs.  He  did  not  know 
of  any  man  who  more  deserved  their  gratitude,  not  only  for  what 
he  was  doing  in  promoting  the  Celtic  Chair,  but  also  for  his  efforts 
to  raise  and  elevate  the  character  of  the  people,  and  in  endeavour- 
ing to  bring  the  times  of  the  past  back,  when  the  Highlands  will 
not  only  be  a  place  for  sheep  and  deer  but  for  men.  He  trusted 
the  Chief  would  live  to  see  this  realised.  On  the  call  of  the  Pro- 
vost, the  audience  rose  en  masse  and  heartily  cheered  the  Professor. 

Professor  Blackie  in  a  few  words  replied.  He  moved  a  vote  of 
thanks  to  the  lady  singers  and  other  performers,  remarking  that  if 
any  of  those  barbarous  and  obfuscated  persons  who  talk  contemptu- 
ously of  the  Gaelic  had  been  there  and  heard  the  ladies  sing,  it 
would  have  softened  their  hard  faces  and  melted  their  flinty  hearts 
into  wax.  The  time  was  coming  when  he  would  have  to  hoist  the 
flag  of  surrender,  and  whether  he  was  laid  near  his  Oban  estate  or 
elsewhere,  his  desire  was  that  the  inscription  on  his  tombstone 
should  be  in  Gaelic,  not  long  winded,  like  some  Gaelic  sermons, 
but  simply — •"  Here  lies  OUamk  Blackie,  the  friend  and  the  advo- 
cate of  the  Gael." 

The  proceedings,  which  were  very  happy  and  successful  through- 
out, closed  about  half-past  eleven  with  the  National  Anthem  in 
Gaelic. 

2»  NOVEMBER,  1876. 

A  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  on  this  date,  but  the  busi- 
ness was  of  a  routine  character. 

16xH  NOVEMBER,  1876. 

At  the  meeting  on  this  date  the  following  new  members  were 
elected  : — Messrs  H.  C.  Gillies,  Culloden ;  D.  A.  Campbell,  Eng- 
lishton  Muir,  Bunchrew  ;  Simon  Mackenzie,  Kildonan,  Lochbroom  ; 
M.  Macdonald,  Denny ;  Colin  Chisholm,  Namur  Cottage,  Inver- 
ness ;  and  Charles  Ferguson,  Raigmore,  Inverness. 

Some  discussion  took  place  as  to  what  form  the  winter  re-union 
of  the  Society  should  assume.  Some  members  were  desirous  of 
holding  a  social  meeting  or  conversazione,  whilst  others  were  in 
favour  of  adhering  to  the  old  order  of  things — a  dinner  or  supper. 
Ultimately,  a  motion  to  remit  the  matter  to  the  Council  for  their 
consideration  was  carried.  There  was  no  other  business  of  impor- 
tance. 


GAELIC  TEACHING    IN    HIGHLAND    SCHOOLS.  23 


23o  NOVEMBER,  1876. 

At  this  meeting  the  following  new  members  were  elected  :— - 
Messrs  Roderick  Ross,  23  Rushford  Street,  Middlesboro-on-Tees ; 
D.  J.  Macrae,  Invershiel,  Kintail ;  Evan  Macrae,  Braintra,  Loch- 
alsh  ;  and  John  Stewart,  Duntulm,  Dunvegan. 

The  Secretary  read  the  minutes  of  Council  relative  to  the 
remit  to  consider  what  form  the  winter  re-union  of  the  Society 
should  assume.  The  Council,  by  a  majority  of  seven  to  one,  re- 
commended that  no  change  be  made,  and  that  as  hitherto  a  dinner 
or  supper  be  held.  Mr  William  Mackay,  solicitor,  moved  that  the 
recommendation  of  the  Council  be  adopted.  Mr  Alex.  Mackenzie, 
of  the  Celtic  Magazine,  seconded.  Mr  Lachlan  Macbean,  High- 
lander office,  moved  as  an  amendment  that  instead  of  a  dinner  or 
supper  the  re-union  take  the  form  of  a  social  meeting,  to  which 
ladies  would  be  admitted.  Mr  W.  A.  Smith  seconded.  After 
some  discussion  the  motion  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  13  to  2. 

On  this  date  Mr  H.  C.  Gillies  read  a  paper  entitled — 

"REASONS  WHY  GAELIC  SHOULD  BE  TAUGHT 
IN  HIGHLAND  SCHOOLS." 

Unfortunately,  Mr  Gillies  subsequently  mislaid  the  paper,  and 
the  Publishing  Committee  regret  they  cannot  therefore  give  more 
than  the  following  summary,  which  appeared  in  the  Free  Press  of 
November  27,  1876  :— 

"  The  first  reason  he  gave  was  that  the  Gaelic  was  pre-emin- 
ently the  language  of  nature.  Any  person  who  would  devote  a 
little  time  to  the  study  of  it  could  discover  this.  It  was  full  of  the 
class  of  words  which  in  pronunciation  expressed  the  idea  involved. 
All  languages  had  those  words  in  some  degree,  but  the  Gaelic  was 
full  of  them.  It  was  this  that  strengthened  the  claim  of  its  anti- 
quity, and  gave  to  it,  above  all  other  languages  (with  perhaps  one 
exception),  its  character  as  the  language  of  poetry  and  eloquent 
expression.  It  placed  itself  alongside  with  nature,  and  reflected 
ideas  as  they  were  really  conceived  in  the  mind,  "  with  the  pre- 
cision of  the  most  finely  polished  reflector,"  and  left  not  a  jot  un- 
expressed in  the  most  intricate  feelings  of  the  heart.  And  having 
inherited  such  a  language  were  they  to  throw  it  away  as  not  worth 
the  having  ?  Certainly  not.  It  struck  a  person  as  very  peculiar 
how  a  Highlander,  with  perhaps  no  education  or  instruction  what- 


24  TRANSACTIONS. 

ever,  could  express  himself  in  his  native  tongue  so  pointedly  and 
so  happily,  as  if  the  heart  itself  spoke  its  thoughts,  whilst  the  Eng 
lishmen  of  equal  standing  must  have  recourse  to  cant  or  slang,  in 
order  to  express  the  commoner  thoughts  with  ordinary  intelligi- 
bility. This  was  because  Gaelic  was  a  natural  language  to  the 
Highlander.  A  Highlander  needed  not  the  trumpet  of  cultivated 
speech  to  give  effect  to  the  voice  of  nature,  since  nature  herself 
spoke  by  him  in  the  simplicity  of  his  native  tongue,  with  a  voice 
surpassing  anything  uttered  by  her  handmaiden — Art.  The  Eng- 
lishman was  not  so  fortunate.  Nature  to  him  was  not  so  prodigal. 
He  had  to  study  his  language  from  his  very  birth,  and  even  by 
study  itself,  to  the  comparatively  few  was  it  decreed  that  they 
shoiild  ever  attain  a  marked  power  of  expression  in  it,  and  these, 
when  they  did  turn  up,  were  called  geniuses — a  name  which  they 
deserved.  Another  reason  which  Mr  Gillies  gave  was  the  pecu- 
liar suitableness  of  the  Gaelic  to  the  nature  and  character  of  the 
Highland  people.  After  referring  to  some  authorities  on  this 
point,  Mr  Gillies  said — We  see  the  peculiar  suitableness  of  the 
Gaelic  language  to  the  nature  of  the  Highland  people,  and  how 
can  we,  while  a  fragment  of  this  nature  remains  with  us,  express 
our  ideas  but  through  the  language  which  gaye  them  birth  ?  When 
the  Gaelic  would  fall  into  oblivion,  the  Gaelic  race  must  pass  away 
with  it.  Another  reason  for  retaining  the  language  was,  "  that  as 
Highlanders,  it  is  the  language  of  our  life  and  a  part  of  our  nature, 
a  part  without  which  we  would  dwindle  into  an  inconceivable  race, 
without  a  language  and  without  a  name."  Imagine,  he  said,  the 
Highlanders  of  Scotland,  a  race  who  have  indelibly  left  their  mark 
on  the  world's  history,  forgotten  and  unknown  1  Think  of  it,  and 
say  whether  this  language,  which  even  the  mountain  streamlet 
seems  to  murmur,  and  the  cataract  to  roar,  is  not  worthy  the  at- 
tention of  its  sons  and  daughters  !  The  fates,  however,  were  ap- 
parently against  the  perpetuation  of  the  Gaelic  language  ;  and  let 
them,  then,  be  up  and  doing,  and,  realising  rather  than  believing 
that  such  an  extinction  is  to  be  the  fate  of  Highlanders  and  their 
language,  they  should  make  a  strong  effort  to  lay  the  foundation 
of  a  new  Celtic  life  on  the  pure  germ  of  the  Scottish  Gael.  The 
Highlander  could  have  no  difficulty  in  learning  the  Gaelic,  because 
it  was  inherent  in  him.  It  was  not  like  learning  a  new  language, 
where  he  had  to  cram  word  by  word.  So  far  as  Gaelic  was  con- 
cerned, the  young  Highlander's  vocabulary  was  already  fairly 
stocked,  and  his  ear  might  be  his  grammar  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses. He  thought  Gaelic  should  be  taught  in  Highland  schools. 


GAELIC  TEACHING   IN   HIGHLAND    SCHOOLS.  2o 

because,  as  he  argued,  children  would  much  easier  pass  their  ex- 
amination in  Gaelic  than  the  special  subjects  now  taught  under  the 
code.  Another  reason  was  that  by  and  through  Gaelic,  and  Gaelic 
only,  could  we  have  rational,  intelligent  teaching  in  Highland 
schools.  At  present  Gaelic  was  not  much  used,  and  the  result  was 
that  boys  and  girls  left  school  knowing  nothing  of  man  or  of  the 
world  in  which  they  were  about  to  enter.  They  went  forth,  their 
only  recommendation  being  ignorance  of  what  they  should  know. 
This  was  our  education,  and  it  would  remain  so  as  long  as  the 
native  language  was  not  used  as  a  means  of  culture,  and  an  instru- 
ment for  teaching.  The  understanding  of  a  Highland  child  could 
not  be  reached  without  using  the  Gaelic  as  a  medium  for  that  pur- 
pose. Mr  Gillies  then  dealt  with  the  common  belief  that  Gaelic 
interfered  with  the  pronunciation  of  English.  He  contended  that 
it  did  not — that  it  only  enriched  the  style  of  speaking  English. 
Speaking  of  his  own  education,  he  said — The  method  adopted  of 
teaching  English  was  the  ruin  of  my  judgment  and  of  my  reason. 
I  grew  up  in  darkness  of  the  fact  that  I  had  a  mind  at  all,  till 
some  lucky  day  in  my  early  manhood,  when  I  had  become  a  fair 
scholar,  I  accidentally  discovered  that  I  could  think  and  reason, 
and  here  began  my  education,  which  should  at  the  time  be  far  ad- 
vanced. When  I  should  be  taught  how  to  reason,  I  was  lost  in 
the  mazes  of  a  monosyllabic  constitution.  Another  reason  for 
teaching  Gaelic  was  that  we  might  preserve  our  Highland  music. 
Milton  described  his  ideal  music  as  abounding — 

Jn  notes  with  many  a  winding  'bout 
Of  linked  sweetness,  long  drawn  out 
With  wanton  heed  and  giddy  cunning, 
The  melting  voice  through  mazes  running, 
Untwisting  all  the  chains  that  tie 
The  hidden  chain  of  harmony. 

Surely,  he  said,  Milton  must  have  heard  some  Gaelic  songs  sung, 
for  this  is  just  a  perfect  image  of  their  airs.  He  advocated  the 
teaching  of  Highland  music  in  Highland  schools,  and  stated  that 
he  taught  his  own  pupils  to  sing  the  songs  of  our  country.  As  to 
the  practical  part  of  the  subject,  he  said  he  wished  Gaelic  taught 
as  being  the  only  medium  whereby  a  Gaelic-speaking  child  could 
acquire  a  speedy  and  thorotigh  knowledge  of  English.  He  there- 
fore wished  to  see  Gaelic  used  in  Highland  schools  as  a  medium 
for  teaching  English  in  the  junior  branches,  and  Gaelic  as  a  special 
subject  under  the  Code,  occupying  a  position  similar  to  English 


26  TRANSACTIONS. 

literature,  taught  to  the  advanced  classes.  The  intelligence  of  the 
children  should  be  treated  by  means  of  Gaelic  on  the  day  of  exam- 
ination, and  this  would  necessitate  a  knowledge  of  Gaelic  on  the 
part  of  the  inspector  or  his  assistant." 


30TH  NOVEMBER,  1876. 

The  Society  met  on  this  date,  but  the  business  was  of  a  routine 
-character. 

7TH  DECEMBER,  1876. 

On  this  date  Mr  Win.  Bain,  Courier  office,  Inverness,  and  Mr 
D.  Macpherson,  3  Union  Street,  Inverness,  were  elected  ordinary 
members. 

Further  arrangements  for  the  annual  dinner  were  made,  and 
thereafter  Mr  Lachlan  Macbean,  Highlander  office,  read  an  inter- 
esting paper  on  "  Celtic  Sentiment  and  Sentimentality,"  which  he 
declines  to  publish. 

HTH  DECEMBER,  1876. 

At  this  meeting  Mr  Charles  Macdougall,  writer,  Lombard 
Street,  Inverness,  was  elected  member  of  the  Society.  Some 
further  arrangements  were  made  for  the  annual  dinner. 


HTH  JANUARY,  1877. 

After  the  meeting  had  made  the  final  arrangements  for  the 
dinner,  Mr  Hugh  Rose,  solicitor,  read  a  paper  on  "  Highland  Min- 
strelsy," for  which  he  was  awarded  a  vote  of  thanks.  As,  how- 
ever, Mr  Rose  has  not  yet  (May  7)  been  able  to  prepare  it  for  the 
printer,  we  hope  to  give  it  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 


ANNUAL    DINNER. 


12-rH  JANUARY,  1877. 
On  this  date  the 

ANNUAL  DINNER  OF  THE  SOCIETY 

took  place  in  the  Station  Hotel.  There  was  a  large  and  influential 
attendance.  The  chair  was  occupied  by  Professor  Blackie,  Chief 
of  the  Society,  who  was  supported  by  Sir  Kenneth  Mackenzie  of 
Gairloch,  Bart.  ;  Captain  MacRa  Chisholm  of  Glassburn ;  Mr  H. 
C.  Macandrew,  Sheriff-Clerk  of  Inverness-shire ;  Mr  Jolly,  H.M. 
Inspector  of  Schools;  Mr  A.  Macdonald,  wine  merchant,  Inver- 
ness ;  Bailie  Davidson,  Inverness ;  Mr  William  Mackay,  of  Messrs 
Innes  &  Mackay,  solicitors ;  Mr  Colin  Chisholm,  ex-President  of 
the  Gaelic  Society  of  London,  &c.  The -croupiers  were — Mr  Chas. 
Stewart  of  Brin ;  and  Mr  Charles  Innes,  solicitor,  Inverness. 
Among  the  general  company  were — 

Rev.  Messrs  Macgregor  and  Maclauchlan,  Inverness ;  Rev.  Mr 
Macrae,  Carloway ;  Messrs  John  Colvin,  solicitor,  Inverness ; 
Roderick  Macrae,  Beauly  ;  Eraser,  Mauld  ;  Macdonald,  Station 
Hotel,  Inverness ;  Alexander  Eraser,  accoimtant,  Inverness ; 
Charles  Mackay,  builder,  do.  ;  James  Eraser,  C.E.,  do. ;  Sime, 
H.M.  Inspector  of  Schools ;  G.  J.  Campbell,  solicitor  ;  Murdoch,  of 
The  Highlander ;  Alex.  Mackenzie,  Celtic  Magazine ;  Robert 
Grant,  of  Messrs  Macdougall  &  Co.  ;  James  H.  Mackenzie,  book- 
seller ;  Alexander  Mackenzie,  wine  merchant,  Church  Street ; 
William  Couper,  Highland  Railway;  Alex.  Mackay,  contractor; 
Jonathan  Ross,  draper ;  A.  Maclean,  commission  agent ;  Mac 
donald,  live  stock  agent ;  Hood,  commission  agent ;  Andrew 
Eraser,  cabinetmaker  ;  W.  B.  Forsyth,  of  the  Advertiser  ;  Burgess, 
factor  for  Glemnoriston  ;  Simon  Eraser,  banker,  Lochcarron  ;  Alex. 
Macleod,  grocer,  Bridge  Street ;  Macdonald,  grocer,  Exchange ; 
Wm.  Mackenzie,  draper,  Bridge  Street ;  Donald  Campbell,  do., 
do.  ;  D.  Whyte,  photographer  ;  Macraild,  sheriff-officer ;  John  Mac- 
kenzie, Telford  Road  ;  Charles  Ferguson,  Raigmore  ;  Charles  Mac- 
donald, flesher,  Union  Street ;  Donald  Davidson,  solicitor ;  F. 
Macgillivray,  do.  ;  D.  J.  Mackay,  do.  ;  Gumming  Allanfearn ;  A. 
Ross,  architect ;  D.  Middleton,  coal  merchant ;  A  Macdonald, 
flesher,  New  Market ;  James  Fraser,  Lombard  Street ;  -dCneas 
Fraser,  Church  Street ;  George  Macbean,  Union  Street ;  W.  G. 
Stuart ;  H.  C.  Gillies,  Culloden  ;  Macpherson,  carpenter ;  Dr  Mac- 
kechnie,  District  Asylum,  Inverness  ;  Deas,  Church  Street ;  D.  A. 


TRANSACTIONS. 

Campbell,  Englishton  Muir,  Bunchrew ;  Hugh  Fraser,  Huntly 
Street ;  Wm.  Mackenzie,  secretary ;  Barron,  Inverness  Courier  ; 
Bain,  do. ;  Dr  F.  M.  Mackenzie,  Inverness  ;  J.  M.  Duncan,  High- 
lander office  ;  L.  Macbean,  do.,  &c. 

Rev.  Mr  Maclachlan  said  grace,  and  thereafter  an   excellent 
dinner  was  discussed.     The  following  was  the  bill  of  fare  : — 


CUILM  NAN  GAIDHEAL. 


SUGHAN— 

Mhaigheach,  creamha,  agus 
Cheann  Chaorach. 

IASG— 

Glas-iasg  's  leannra  eisirein, 
agus  adagan  friochte. 

SOITHICHEAN  TAOIBHE— 

Iseanan  earr-bhruichte, 

Muilt-fheoil  gheante, 

.Coineanan  cuirichte, 

agus  Taigeis. 

FEOIL— 

Mairt-fheoil  agus  rnuilt-fheoil 

(Roiste  agus  Bhruich), 

Ceann  caorach. 

MILSEAN— 

Marag  phlumbais, 

Ublilan  deasaichte, 

Sughan  mheas  agus  ciathan, 

Cruaidh-thaoisean  's  ubhlan  mills, 

Aran  agus  caise, 

Measan. 


SOUPS— 

Hare,  Cock-a-leekie, 
Sheep's  Head. 

FISH— 

Cod  and  Oyster  Sauce, 
Fried  Haddock. 

ENTREES— 

Poulet  Soute, 
Mutton  Cutlets, 
Curried  Rabbits, 


JOINTS— 

Beef  and  Mutton 

(Roast  and  Boiled), 

Sheep's  Head. 

SWEETS— 

Plum  Pudding, 

Apple  Tart, 

Jellies,  Creams, 

Pastry  and  Pippins, 

Bread  and  Cheese, 

Dessert. 


The  Rev.  Mr  Macrae,  Carloway,  Lews,  returned  thanks,  after 
which  Mr  W.  Mackenzie,  the  Secretary,  read  the  following  apology 
from  Cluny  Macpherson  : — 

"  Caisteal  Chluanaidh,  Ceann-a'-Ghiusaich, 
"January5,  1877. 

"A  charaid  ionmhuinn, — Fhuair  mi  do  litir  chaoimhneil. 
Thoir  taing  uam  do'n  Chomunn  Ghaidhealach  air  son  a'  chuiridh 
fhialaidh-a  thug  iad  dhomh  gus  an  dinneir  a  tha  gu  bhi  air  an  dara 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  29 

la  diag  dhe'n  mhios.  Abair  riutha,  le  mo  bheannachd,  gu'm  bheil 
mi  duilich  nach  urrainn  mi  bhi  aig  an  dinneir,  do  bhrigh  gu'm  bheil 
coinneamh  mhor  gu  bhi  againn  fhein  air  an  dearbh  lath  a  sin  faisg 
air  a'  chaisteal,  'nuair  a  tha  suil  agam  ri  mora,n  de  m'  chairdean  a 
choinneachadh  aig  a  chluich-bhall.  Ach  feumaidh  n?i  crioch  a 
chur  air  an  litir  so.  Ni  mi  sin  le  bhi  'giridhe  a  h-uile  soirbh- 
eachadh  do'n  Chomunn  Ghaidhealach.  Tha  mi  'guidhe  bliadhna 
mhath  ur  dhuibh  uile,  agus  moran  diubh.  Slan  leibh.  Is  mise 
ur  caraid  dileas, 

"  CLUANAIDH,  Ceann-cinnidh  Chlann-Chatain." 

The  Secretary  also  read  the  following  extract  from,  a  letter 
received  by  him  from  Mr  C.  S.  Jerram,  Surrey  : — 

"  My  only  claims,  such  as  they  are,  for  being  noticed  by  Clann 
nan  Gaidheal,  rest  upon  the  translation  I  made  of  Dr  Smith's  Sean 
Dana  (Dargo  and  Gaul),  which,  I  was  glad  to  see,  was  so  favourably 
received  in  Scotland,  notwithstanding  the  imperfections  in  the 
performance,  of  which  I  am  only  too  conscious.  In  the  Celtic 
Chair,  of  course,  I  take  a  great  interest,  and  was  glad  to  do  some- 
thing last  year  in  the  way  of  collections  for  this  object.  My  only 
fear  at  first  starting  was,  that  it  might  possibly  become  too  much 
devoted  to  the  interest  of  the  Scottish  Gael,  to  the  exclusion  (com- 
paratively) of  Irish,  Welsh,  and  other  Celtic  branches.  I  thought 
the  fact  of  the  Chair  being  established  in  Edinburgh,  and  its  being 
partly  designed  for  the  instruction  of  Gaelic  students  for  practical 
purposes,  might  tend  to  such  a  result,  just  as  I  should  have  feared 
a  preponderance  of  Welsh  or  Irish  Gaelic,  had  the  Chair  been 
fixed  at  Carnarvon  or  Dublin.  But  Professor  Blackie  has  assured 
me  that  all  branches  of  Celtic  are  to  have  their  due  prominence — 
indeed,  I  know  he  is  quite  angry  with  those  who  speak  of  a  '  Gaelic  ' 
instead  of  a  '  Celtic  '  Chair,  a  mistake  I  have  often  heard  made  in 
England,  and  which  I  never  fail  to  correct.  And  I  think  we  may 
all  safely  trust  the  cause  in  the  hands  of  such  a  man  as  Blackie, 
who  has  richly  deserved  all  the  encomiums  that  have  showered 
upon  him,  both  in  public  and  private,  since  his  noble  exertions 
first  began  to  bear  fruit." 

He  also  intimated  that  he  had  received  apologies  from  Mr 
Mackintosh  of  Holm  ;  Mr  Fraser-Mackintosh,  MR  ;  D.  Cameron 
of  Lochiel,  M.P. ;  E.  W.  Mackintosh  of  Raigmore  ;  D.  Davidson  of 
Tulloch ;  Provost  Simpson  ;  Mr  Mackenzie,  yr.  of  Kintail ;  Mr  O. 
H.  Mackenzie  of  Inverewe  ;  Surgeon-Major  General  Mackinnon, 


30  TKAIMACTlOirs. 

C.B.,  Aldershot ;  General  Sir  Patrick  Grant,  G.C.B.;  Dr  Mackenzie 
of  Eileanach  ;  Major  Lyon-Mackenzie  ;  Rev.  Messrs  A.  Macrae, 
Clachan,  Kintyre ;  W.  "Watson,  Kiltearn ;  A.  Macgregor  Rose, 
Evie ;  and  A.  0.  Sutherland,  Strathbraan ;  Captain  D.  P.  Mac- 
donald,  Fort- William ;  Major  Grant,  Drambuie ;  Dr  Buchan, 
Invemess  ;  Dr  Macuee,  do.;  Bailie  Noble,  do.;  Messrs  A.  Dallas, 
Town-Clerk,  do.  ;  T.  D.  Campbell,,  do.  ;  P.  G.  Wilson,  do.;  Fraser 
Campbell,  do.  ;  Thomas  Mackenzie,  Broadstone  Park,  do. ;  John 
Grant,  Cardiff ;  D.  Maclachlan,  publisher,  Edinburgh  ;  John  Mac- 
farquhar,  do.  ;  A.  A.  Carmichael,  Creagorry  ;  A.  C.  Mackenzie, 
Maryburgh ;  D.  A.  Macrae,  Fernaig  ;  D.  J.  Macrae,  Invershiel ; 
Ewan  Macrae,  Branitra ;  W.  Mackenzie,  solicitor,  Dingwall ;  C. 
C.  Glass,  St  Andrews  ;  Robert  Macleod,  Leith ;  Peter  Mackintosh, 
Grantown ;  D.  Macrae,  Inverness ;  S.  Chisholm,  Flowerdale, 
Gairloch  ;  D.  Maccaskill,  Dunvegan ;  Macdonald,  Dunphail,  &c. 

The  Professor  then  proposed  the  health  of  the  Queen,  now  the 
Empress  ot  India.  She  had,  however,  he  remarked,  an  older  and 
nobler  title,  for  she  reigned  not  only  over  the  heads  but  over  the 
hearts  of  her  subjects.  About  the  Prince  of  Wales,  the  Professor 
said  he  knew  nothing  at  all,  and  he  did  not  intend  to  indulge  in 
commonplaces.  He  knew  something  about  the  Queen,  for  she  had 
given  him  .£200  for  the  Celtic  Chair,  and  he  hoped  that  the  Prince 
would  grow  up  to  be  a  son  worthy  of  his  father.  Speaking  of  the 
Army,  the  Professor  declared  that  it  was  the  pride  and  redemption 
of  Britain.  Had  it  not  been  for  our  soldiers,  the  curse  that  falls 
upon  mere  merchants  would  have  fallen  on  us,  as  it  did  upon  Tyre 
and  Sidon.  He  hoped  that  the  army  would  long  preserve  Britain 
from  mere  utilitarianism  and  money  making  and  mammon  worship  ; 
and  that  the  Celtic  spirit  which  led  Wellington  to  his  victories 
would  long  flourish  unimpaired.  Captain  Chisholm  replied  for  the 
Army,  and  Major  Macandrew  and  Captain  Grant  for  the  Volunteers. 
In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  Captain  Grant  said — The  force  has  a 
local  as  well  as  national  character  that  conduces  to  its  permanence 
and  efficiency ;  and  especially  is  this  the  case  in  the  Highlands, 
where  every  district  has  associations  and  traditions  that  cannot 
fail  to  influence  and  stimulate  the  martial  spirit  of  its  local  corps. 
We  may  perhaps  take  the  Inverness-shire  Volunteers  as  fairly  re- 
presentative of  those  of  the  other  northern  counties,  and  we  find 
them  largely  composed  of  the  descendants  of  rival  clans ;  and 
although  a  large  proportion  of  these  men  are  now  citizens  of 
Inverness,  many  of  them  still  cherish  traditions  and  recollections 
of  their  native  straths  and  glens  that  render  them  not  less  worthy 


ANNUAL   DIUHIR.  31 

citizens  nor  less  loyal  subjects,  and  certainly  not  less  reliable 
subjects,  and  we  may  safely  assume  that  a  force  of  this  composition, 
commanded  as  the  two  bodies  of  Inverness-shire  Volunteers  are — 
the  one  by  one  of  the  best  known  and  most  popular  gentlemen  in 
the  county,  and  the  other  by  the  most  Highland  of  Highland  Chiefs 
— would  in  defence  of  their  hearths  and  homes  prove  themselves 
not  unworthy  descendants  of  the  men  of  whose  valour  the  world 
has  heard  so  much.  In  such  a  representative  meeting  as  this,  I 
may  be  allowed  to  say  in  connection  with  this  toast  that  neither 
clans  nor  the  spirit  of  clanship  are  yet  extinct  in  the  Highlands. 
I  know  a  strath  within  a  day's  easy  march  of  the  Capital  of  the 
Highlands,  *  where  they  still  exist  to  a  greater  extent  than  many 
are  aware  of  ;  and  where  the  present  Chief  could  in  case  of  need, 
in  a  few  days,  or  even  hours,  still  raise  a  regiment  of  genuine 
clansmen,  the  direct  descendants  of  men  who  for  many  centuries 
held  their  lands  against  all  comers,  and  for  generation  after  genera- 
tion lived  and  died  on  the  same  soil. 

The  Secretary  then  read  the  Annual  Report,  which  was  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"At  a  meeting  such  as  this,  I  believe  the  briefer  the  Annual 
Report,  the  more  it  will  be  relished  by  those  present.  I  will, 
therefore,  be  as  brief  as  in  the  circumstances  I  can.  As  to  the 
general  work  done  by  the  Society  during  the  year,  I  beg  to  refer 
you  to  our  volume  of  Transactions.  The  progress  made  by  the 
Society  during  the  year  has  been  such  as  should  give  satisfaction 
to  all  who  interest  themselves  in  its  affairs.  Our  total  income  has 
been  £117  17s  9d,  and  our  expenditure  up  to  this  date  £48  2s  lid, 
leaving  a  balance  at  present  in  our  possession  of  £69  14s  lOd. 
Against  this  suno,  however,  must  be  set  some  liabilities  amounting 
to  about  £60.  These  are  incurred  in  connection  with  the  publica- 
tion of  our  Transactions,  management  of  the  Society,  and  Gaelic 
competition  in  schools.  Four  gentlemen  commuted  their  Honorary 
Membership  into  Life  Membership.  The  number  of  new  members 
who  joined  during  the  year  was  as  follows  : — 1  Life  Member ;  6 
Honorary  Members  ;  55  Ordinary  Members  ;  and  3  Junior  or  Ap- 
prentice Members,  making  a  total  of  65.  The  total  number  of 
Members  on  the  roll  is  now  390." 

Professor  Blackie,  in  rising  to  give  the  toast  of  the  evening — 
"  The  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness  " — was  received  with  loud  cheer- 

*  It  is  understood  this  refers  to  Strathspey  and  the  Earl  of  Seafield. 


32  TRANSACTIONS. 

ing.  He  said — Gentlemen  of  Inverness,  members  of  the  Gaelic 
Society — accustomed  as  I  am  to  public  speaking,  it  is  not  without 
a  feeling  of  trepidation,  or  at  least  discomfort,  that  on  this  and 
almost  every  other  occasion  I  open  my  mouth  to  speak.  (Laugh- 
ter.) There  is  a  responsibility  which  attaches  to  any  man  who 
speaks  in  public  which  he  ought  to  consider — which  I  don't 
always  consider — (Renewed  laughter) — and  besides  I  am  very 
much  afraid  of  not  speaking  enough  of  truth,  and  sometimes  of 
the  greater  danger  of  speaking  too  much  truth.  I  a*u  very  much 
afraid  also  of  the  reporters — (laughter) — who,  if  T  fling  out  any 
nonsense — and  it  comes  out,  I  believe,  in  an  instinctive  way — are 
perfectly  sure  to  report  it ;  whereas  if  I  measure  out  wisdom  by 
the  yard,  these  gentlemen  either  don't  understand  it,  or  they  mis- 
understand it — (Laughter) — sometimes  to  my  knowledge  they 
positively  misrepresent  it.  However,  1  believe  there  is  no  danger 
in  Inverness.  I  am  told  you  have  here  a  peculiarly  wise  and 
judicious  race  of  reporters — (Laughter) — and  if  a  man  says  any- 
thing he  ought  not  to  say — if  he  uses  any  phrase  too  emphatic  or 
too  strong — they  always  smooth  it  down  and  shave  off  the  angu- 
larities. (Laughter  and  applause.)  If,  therefore,  I  say  anything 
out  of  joint,  or  anything  too  strong,  it  is  perfectly  sure  not  to  be 
put  in  the  superlative  degree  by  the  reporters  of  the  Inverness 
Courier.  (Renewed  laughter  and  applause.)  As  chief  of  this  As- 
sociation, I  must  also  confess  to  a  feeling  of  discomfort  or  incon- 
gruity. There  is  surely  some  incongruity  in  putting  a  Hellenic 
capital  on  a  Gaelic  column.  It  is  like  a  Highlander  with  a  hat — 
(Laughter)  — and  a  Highlander  with  a  hat  is  an  inconceivable 
monster.  (Laughter.)  If  a  man  be  a  Highlander  let  him  look 
like  my  heroic  triend  here  (Captain  Chisholm),  who  looks  just  like 
Agamemnon,  whose  remains  were  found  the  other  day  at  Mycenae, 
and  proved  to  be  those  of  a  giant  hero,  as  he  was.  (Applause.) 
If  a  man  dresses  like  my  friend  he  cannot  put  on  a  hat — (Liugh- 
ter) — but  of  course  if  he  Lowlandise  himself,  he  may  put  anything 
he  likes  to  hide  from  the  world  that  he  is  such  a  noble  animal  as  a 
Celt.  (Laughter.)  But  I  have  one  comfort,  and  that  is  that  I 
never  meet  with  greater  sympathy  or  more  cordiality  or  genuine 
feeling  than  at  meetings  of  this  kind  ;  and  for  myself  on  such 
occasions,  "  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh." 
(Cheers.)  I  consider  it  one  of  the  proudest  days  of  my  life,  when 
I  was  elected  as  Chief — though  only  for  a  year.  (Laughter.) 
However,  the  memory  of  it  will  continue  as  long  as  I  live,  and 
perhaps  it  will  be  inscribed  on  my  tombstone.  (Laughter. )  If 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  33 

any  university  should  confer  on  me  the  degree  of  D.C.L. — and 
they  have  not  done  it  yet — (Laughter) — T  should  not  esteem  it 
half  such  an  honour  as  having  been  Chief  of  the  Gaelic  Society. 
(Applause.)  Now,  since  1745  I  do  not  think  the  Highlanders 
have  done  justice  to  themselves ;  and  they  require  associations 
of  this  kind  to  make  them  feel  that  there  is  no  shame 
but  rather  glory  in  being  Highlanders — that  they  have  something 
to  conserve  and  preserve — something  to  look  back  upon  with  pride, 
and  to  make  them  look  forward  with  hope.  (Applause.)  This 
Society  shows  that  there  is  a  consciousness  in  the  Highlands  that 
they  have  a  right  to  walk  God's  earth  as  a  peculiar  people,  like  the 
Jews.  (Laughter.)  Don't  laugh.  To  the  Jews  we  owe  religion, 
to  the  Greeks  wisdom,  and  to  the  Celts  sentiment,  chivalry,  and 
valoiar,  and  the  most  brilliant  pages  in  our  history.  (Cheers.)  I 
am  proud  to  think  that  the  Highland  people  are  now  thoroughly 
conscious  of  themselves,  as  metaphysicians  would  say  ;  and  that 
they  are  not  to  be  stamped  out  or  smoothed  over  to  please  fellows 
in  Edinburgh,  who  would  even  wipe  Edinburgh  out  of  the  map  of 
world,  and  go  to  Oxford  to  be  made  scholars  and  prigs — (Laughter 
and  applause) — who  want  to  forget  that  they  are  Scotchmen,  and 
to  extinguish  broad  Scotch,  that  they  may  lisp  "  ha,  ha  "  English 
— and  who  are  unable  to  sing  a  Scotch  song  in  the  right  way  with 
a  regular  thumping  heart.  (Applause.)  There  are  Celts  and 
Scotchmen  both  who  want  to  extinguish  old  recollections  and 
aspirations,  and  in  the  name  of  civilisation  to  assimilate  themselves 
to  John  Bull  from  the  top  of  the  head  to  the  tip  of  the  toe.  I 
don't  believe  in  that.  I  don't  think  centralisation  is  a  British 
peculiarity  or  a  virtue  of  British  policy.  It  belongs  to  France  and 
Prussia  and  despotic  countries  ;  but  Britain  has  gi'own  strong  by 
its  local  peculiarities  and  local  liberties.  One  of  its  distinctive 
peculiarities  is  the  existence  of  a  Celtic  people,  with  its  chivalry, 
and  poetry,  and  general  Celtic  spirit ;  and  I  object  to  have  that 
race  or  language  blotted  out,  although  it  may  die,  as  John  Bull 
himself  must  die  some  day.  The  Gaelic  language  will  die  ;  and  I 
venture  to  prophecy,  whatever  Mr  Murdoch  may  say,  that  it  will 
be  dead  in  200  years.  (Mr  Murdoch — "  No.")  I  will  tell  you 
why.  It  is  impossible  that  a  people,  so  few  in  numbers,  and  with 
a  literary  inheritance  so  comparatively  small — a  people  who  must 
advance  in  the  world,  and  Anglify  themselves  in  spite  of  them- 
selves— a  people  subjected  to  the  inroads  of  English  dons  and 
swells  with  money — it  is  impossible  for  such  a  people  with  all  their 
heroism,  to  preserve  themselves  distinct  for  more  than  200  years. 

c 


34  TRANSACTIONS. 

I  predict  that,  but  don't  suppose  that  I  want  to  hasten  it.  No  ;  I 
respect  the  language,  and  would  cultivate  it.  Am  I  to  kick  my 
grandmother  into  the  grave  because  she  is  old  ?  No,  I  will  respect 
and  reverence  her ;  and  learn  from  her  lips  more  tenderness  and 
perhaps  more  wisdom  than  from  the  most  recent  school-book,  bound 
with  red  tape,  and  patronised  by  Her  Majesty's  Inspectors. 
(Laughter  and  applause.)  It  is  a  very  great  thing  to  preserve 
unity  at  the  centre  of  a  nation,  and  also  strength  in  the  limba. 
No  doubt  it  is  difficult  to  accomplish  both.  Germany  developed 
such  enormous  strength  in  the  provinces  that  the  central  unity 
broke  down.  There  was  no  empire  or  emperor  except  in  name  ; 
but  numerous  states  existed,  and  with  all  the  evils  of  disunion, 
there  were  some  countervailing  advantages.  Each  prince  had  his 
capital — at  Dresden,  at  Hanover,  at  Cassel,  and  so  on  ;  and  if  the 
princes  sometimes  taxed  the  people  heavily,  and  spent  a  good  deal 
of  money,  and  were  not  particularly  wise  men,  still  they  had  their 
own  universities,  their  own  libraries,  and  their  own  literary  circles, 
thus  forming  numerous  centres  of  culture,  so  that  there  was  more 
culture  in  Genrany  than  in  any  other  country.  By  centralisation 
France  lost  a  great  deal  of  variety  and  richness  of  life,  and  also, 
what  is  the  main  thing,  the  power  and  energy  of  her  people.  Let 
us  try  to  avoid  both  extremes.  There  should  be  not  only  a  strong 
pumping  heart,  but  ganglia  over  all  parts  of  the  body — centres  to 
redeem  the  provinces  from  that  stagnation  and  servility  both  in 
moral  and  intellectual  action  which  belong  to  a  people  who  receive 
education  and  impulse  from  the  capital  and  the  capital  alone. 
(Applause.)  I  am  sure  the  Inverness  Gaelic  Society  aims  at  sup- 
porting the  local  and  provincial  life,  character,  dignity,  and  vigour 
of  this  part  of  the  country,  and  will  long  continue  to  do  so.  Allow 
me  to  say  a  few  words  in  reference  to  the  Gaelic.  If  the  language 
is  to  die  speedily,  the  fault  will  mainly  be  with  the  Highland 
people  themselves.  You  do  not  cultivate  Gaelic.  In  Wales, 
there  are  several  newspapers  in  the  native  tongue,  and  you  find 
Welsh  staring  at  you  at  every  railway  station;  whereas,  our 
friend  Murdoch  has  a  great  deal  to  do  to  get  up  a  column  or  two 
of  the  Gaelic,  and  some  people  want  him  to  give  it  up  altogether. 
The  Highlanders,  like  the  Israelites  of  old,  have  gone  a  whoring 
after  strange  gods,  and  must  pay  the  penalty.  (Laughter.)  Why, 
one  requires  to  go  about  with  microscopic  eyes  to  find  a  Gaelic  in- 
scription on  a  tombstone  ;  while  in  Wales  you  will  find  native 
inscriptions  in  every  churchyard.  Nevertheless,  Gaelic  cannot  be 
neglected  by  any  man  who  wishes  to  play  the  part  of  an  educator, 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  35 

or  to  wield  a  direct  moral  influence  over  the  people.  No  doubt 
the  Celt  is  a  British  citizen,  and  ought  to  be  taught  English.  That 
should  be  placed  in  the  foreground  ;  but,  unless  circumstances  are 
very  unfavourable — unless  he  is  ill-treated  by  others  or  ill-treats 
himself,  and  looks  only  to  what  affects  his  pocket  rather  than  to 
what  makes  his  bosom  swell  with  noble  emotion  and  sentiment — 
he  ought  not  to  neglect  his  mother  tongue  ;  and  he  is  a  monster  if 
he  does  not  love  it.  (Applause.)  He  may  have  the  misfortune  to 
have  a  father  who  told  him  to  avoid  the  mother  tongue,  and  who 
sent  him  to  Eton  or  Harrow  to  learn  to  read  Horace  and  to  be 
licked  into  an  Englishman — (Laughter) — and  who  did  not  know 
that  the  best  thing  for  a  Highland  laird  was  to  be  familiar  with 
tbe  language  of  his  own  people,  and  the  history  and  traditions  of 
his  ancestral  glens.  (Applause.)  Gaelic  is  not  vulgar — Nature 
never  can  be  vulgar — (Cheers) — and  the  worst  vulgarity  is  that 
which  apes  what  eomes  from  the  West  End.  (Applause.)  More- 
over, the  comparison  of  the  mother  tongue  with  other  languages  is 
one  of  the  greatest  instruments  of  training.  In  our  classical 
schools  English  is  constantly  compared  with  Latin  and  Greek,  so 
as  to  set  the  mind  a  thinking  on  the  meaning  of  words,  and  make 
the  word  of  one  language  express,  by  a  fine  natural  shade  of  dis- 
tinction, what  the  other  language  does  not  contain.  It  is  impossi 
ble  to  let  the  Gaelic  child  know  through  the  intellect  and  heart 
what  the  meaning  of  English  is  except  through  the  mother  tongue, 
because  the  mother  tongue  has  a  character  and  significance  that 
does  not  belong  to  the  acquired.  Certain  Scotch  words,  for  in- 
stance, such  as  sonsy  and  canny,  have  a  meaning  of  their  own 
which  cannot  be  transferred  into  English  ;  and  this  is  the  more 
evident  when  you  consider  that  the  English  language  is  a  mixty- 
maxty — a  kind  of  hodge-podge — a  mere  devil's  soup  brewed  up  of 
all  materials  which  came  from  nobody  knows  where.  (Laughter.) 
It  would  require  the  most  learned  man  in  Germany — perhaps  half- 
a-dozen  of  the  most  learned  men — to  make  a  good  etymological 
English  dictionary.  The  words  have  no  meaning  except  to  a  man 
who  knows  Latin  and  Greek,  and  sometimes  Gaelic.  To  a  poor 
Highland  boy  what  significance  will  the  word  "  publican  "  in  the 
Gospels  convey  ?  The  only  kind  of  publicans  he  knows  are  those 
of  a  kind  which  my  friend  Mr  Macgregor  does  not  like  to  patronise 
— (Laughter)  — but  he  would  make  a  great  mistake  if  he  thought 
they  were  the  publicans  mentioned  by  Luke.  But  if  the  boy 
opens  his  Gaelic  Bible  he  will  find  the  word  cis-mhacr,  and  knows 
at  once  that  this  is  a  man  who  gathers  the  taxes.  (Laughter.) 

c2 


36  TRANSACTIONS. 

Another  thing  struck  me  the  first  time  I  read  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis  in  Gaelic.  The  first  verse  in  English  is,  "  In  the  beginning 
God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth."  What  idea  do  you 
attach  to  the  word  create  1  Go  back  to  the  Latin,  Greek,  or  even 
the  Sanskrit,  and  you  will  not  learn ;  all  that  you  arrive  at  is  that 
it  signifies  "  doing  or  acting."  In  Gaelic  the  same  verse  runs — 
'S  an  toiseach  chruthaick  Dia  na  nea/tnhan  agus  an  talamh.  The 
Professor  slowly  spelled  the  third  word  chruthaich,  and  continued — 
you  see  I  can  spell  even  Gaelic  ;  though  Gaelic  has  been  said  to  be 
a  language  which  few  persons  can  read  and  nobody  can  spell. 
(Laughter.)  Now,  strike  off  the  termination  and  see  what  you 
have — chruth.  That  word  means  shape  or  form,  and  there  you 
have  the  key  to  the  whole  Platonic  philosophy,  and  the  Gospel 
philosophy  too.  To  give  form  to  the  formless  is  one  of  the  prime 
functions  of  creation.  Having  made  that  boy  a  philosopher  by  the 
help  of  Gaelic — (Laughter) — I  ask,  how  can  any  man  despise  and 
trample  it  under  his  feet  as  a  language  of  savages  1  If  any  man. 
dare  say  that  it  is  a  barbarous  language,  he  is  either  a  fool  or  a 
savage  himself — (Laughter) — he  is  still  in  the  gall  of  bitterness 
and  the  bond  of  iniquity — of  course  in  a  philosophical  sense.  (Re- 
newed laughter.)  Let  such  a  fellow  come  before  me,  and  I  will 
smash  him  to  powder.  (Cheers  and  laughter.)  Let  a  man  be  ever 
so  mighty,  truth  is  mightier ;  and  nothing  but  gi'oss  ignorance  or 
prejudice  cari  explain  the  hostility  of  those  people  who  would  stamp 
out  the  Gaelic.  If  they  dare  to  come  to  the  front  before  me,  whose 
Gaelic  is  only  of  yesterday,  I  will  squelch  them  into  jelly.  (Great 
laughter.)  I  once  received  an  epistle  from  a  gentleman  who  re- 
fused to  subscribe  to  the  Celtic  Chair,  and  attributed  all  the  evils 
of  the  Highlands  to  two  causes — the  one  being  Gaelic,  and  the 
other  Feudalism.  Now,  Feudalism  never  was  in  the  Highlands  ex- 
cept in  the  shape  of  law-deeds ;  and  such  things  only  show  the  in- 
solence of  John  Bull,  who  knows  of  nothing  beyond  the  Grampians 
except  grouse,  and  deer,  and  ptarmigan.  I  don't  like  to  use  big 
sentences,  for  they  are  generally  used  by  men  who  like  to  seem 
mighty  and  are  weak ;  but  I  could  mention  several  things  that 
have  ruined  the  Highlands.  Their  own  folly  in  rising  in  '45 
helped  it.  Even  Lochiel  saw  the  danger  at  the  time,  and 
yielded  to  mere  sentiment.  Next  to  that,  two  thingb  have  done 
mischief.  One  is  absenteeism,  or  the  possession  of  property  by 
persons  who  do  not  perform  the  duties  which  belong  to  a  proprietor 
in  all  well-organised  societies ;  and  the  second  is  selfishness  masked 
in  the  words  of  a  political  economy,  which  regards  the  product 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  37 

only  and  not  the  producer,  which  measures  the  wealth  of  nations 
merely  by  the  amount  of  external  products  which  they  gather 
together,  and  not  by  the  real  well-being  of  the  people  who  belong 
to  the  country — a  political  economy  divorced  from  human  love 
and  evangelical  morality,  and  also  from  the  best  maxims  of  a 
sound  policy.  (Cheers.)  Not  to  detain  you  longer,  let  me  say 
that  if  you  wish  this  Society  to  prosper,  and  if  you  wish  yourselves 
to  be  respected  as  Highlanders  and  as  men,  you  will  cultivate 
your  Highland  traditions  and  the  Gaelic  language  along  with  your 
noble  Gaelic  sentiments  in  all  your  schools.  (Loud  cheers.) 

Mr  G.  J.  Campbell  sang  "  Mairi  laghach,"  which  was  enthusi- 
astically received,  the  company  taking  up  the  chorus  with  spirit. 

Mr  William  Mackay,  solicitor,  then  proposed  the  toast  of 
"  Celtic  Literature."  He  said — Two  days  ago  I  happened  to 
mention  to  a  gentleman,  whom  I  am  glad  to  see  here  this  evening, 
that  I  had  been  requested  to  propose  this  toast.  "  I  supjwse," 
said  he,  with  a  knowing  smile  on  his  countenance,  "  your  first  and 
most  difficult  duty  will  be  to  prove  that  such  a  thing  as  Celtic 
Literature  exists.  Now,  gentlemen,  taking  my  friend's  words  as 
my  text,  I  shall,  with  your  permission,  endeavour  to  show  not 
only  that  we  have  a  literature,  but  also  that  it  is  one  which  is 
ancient,  and  not  altogether  worthless.  The  subject  is,  however, 
so  wide,  that,  so  far  as  the  rich  literary  remains  of  the  Cymric 
branch  of  the  Celtic  nation  are  concerned,  I  shall  merely  allude  to 
them  in  passing.  Some  of  them,  as  old  as  the  sixth  century,  you 
may  find  iti  Skene's  "  Four  Ancient  "Books  of  Wales."  We  of  the 
Gaelic  branch  are  more  immediately  interested  in  the  literature  of 
our  ancestors  of  Scotland  and  Ireland ;  people  who  at  one  time 
were  in  constant  communication  with  each  other,  and  thought  no 
more  of  crossing  the  stormy  sea  which  separated  them  than  we 
Invernessians  do  of  crossing  Kessock  Ferry  to  visit  the  good 
people  of  the  Black  Isle.  Perhaps  the  oldest  piece  of  pure  Gaelic 
writing  now  in  existence  is  a  verse  in  Dioma's  Book,  a  manuscript 
copy  of  the  Gospels  made  for  St  Cronan,  of  Roscrea,  in  Ireland, 
who  died  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century.  From  that  time 
down  to  the  sixteenth  century,  Gaelic  writers  wrote  to  an  extent 
which  is  quite  amazing  to  those  who,  looking  to  the  scantiness  of 
the  Saxon  literature  of  the  period,  assumed  that  the  Celt  must 
have  been  infinitely  in  the  rear.  Among  ancient  Gaelic  manu- 
scripts discovered  in  Scotland  are  the  Book  of  the  Abbey  of  Deer, 
in  Aberdeenshire,  a  manuscript  of  the  ninth  century,  now  published 
by  the  Spalding  Club  ;  the  Bethune  manuscript  of  date  1100  ;  the 


38  TRANSACTIONS. 

Lament  of  Dearduil,  dated  1208  ;  and  the  Dean  of  Lismore's  Book, 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  containing  upwards  of  11,000  verses  of 
Gaelic  poetry  by  Ossian  and  other  ancient  bards.     As  to  the  Gaelic 
manuscripts  found  in  Ireland,  in  the  British  Museum,  in  the  Bod- 
leian Library,  and  in  the  libraries  of  Rome,  Paris,  Brussels,  and  other 
continental  towns,  they  are  legion.     Large  portions  of  those  manu- 
scripts have  been  published  under  the  superintendence  of  O'Curry, 
O'Donovan,  Skene,  Sullivan,  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  and  the 
Royal  Commission  for  publishing  the  Brehon   Laws  ;  but,  in  the 
opinion  of  Professors  O' Loony  and  O'Mahony  of  Dublin,  there 
were,  in  1875,  still  not  less  than  one  thousand  volumes  of  unpub- 
lished Gaelic.     The  contents  of  those  manuscripts  are  as  various 
as  the  subjects  which  exercised  the  minds  of  the  learned  of  the  ages 
in  which  they  were  written—  history,  poetry,  romance,  law,  medi- 
cine, and  even  mathematics  and  astronomy.     The  poems  and  ro- 
mances are  remarkable  for  the  vivid  glimpses  which  thej  give  of 
the  every  day  life  of  our  remote  ancestors ;  the  scientific  treatises 
are  curious  in  so  far  as  they  unfold  to  us  the  views  of  the  ancient 
Celt  on  subjects  which  command  attention  in  our  own  day ;  bvit 
by  far  the  most  valuable  are  the  annals  and  historical  tracts  which, 
in  many  cases,  were  written  at  the  times  of  which  they  speak. 
Skene  carefully  studied  them,  and  made  capital  use  of  them  in  his 
"  Celtic  Scotland  "  just  published — a  work   in  which  he  has  com- 
pletely demolished  the  fabulous  fabrics  raised  by  Fordun,  Boece, 
and  other  so-called  historians  of  ancient  Scotland  ;  and  in  which  he 
narrates  the  true  history  in  a  remarkably  lucid  and  entertaining 
manner.     And  it  is  not  alone  to  him  who  would  be  historian  of 
Scotland  that  those  remains  may  be  interesting.     Do  they,  for 
example,  throw  any  light  on  the  topography  and  early  history  of 
the  town  in  which  we  are  met,  and  the  surrounding  districts  ?     We 
have  continually  been  told  that  Loch-Ness,  the  river  Ness,  and 
Inverness,  all  derive  their  names  from  the  Fall  of  Foyers — an  Eas 
— but  the  Tales  of  Clan  Uisneach,  composed,  according  to  Professor 
O'Curry,    anterior   to   the   year  1000,  lead  me  to  discredit   that 
theory,  and  to  believe  that  the  loch,  river,  and  town,  owe  their 
names  to  Naois,  the  son  of  Uisneach,  who,  with  his  loved  Dearduil 
(pronounced  Jardil),  fled  from  the  court  of  Conachar  Macnessa, 
King  of  Ulster,  to  Scotland,  where  they  sojourned  for  a  time.     In 
.those  tales  I   find  mention  of  Uisge  Naois  (the  Water  of  Naois, 
which  I  take  to  be  Loch-Ness),  and  Inbhernaois  or  Inverness.    The 
prominent  vitrified  fort  on  the  south  shore  of  Loch-Ness  is  to  this 
day  known  as  Dun  Dearduil,  and  in  the  Gaelic  Manuscript  of 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  39 

1208,  which  I  have  mentioned,  Dearduil,  on  her  return  to  Ireland, 
sings  farewell  to  Scotland  and  a  favourite  glen  there,  in  the  follow- 
ing strain : — 

"  Beloved  land,  that  eastern  land, 
Alba  with  its  lakes  ; 
Oh  !  that  I  might  not  depart  from  it, 
But  I  depart  with  Naois, 

Glen  Urchain  !  O  Glen  Urchain  ! 
It  was  the  straight  Glen  of  smooth  ridges 
Not  more  joyful  was  a  man  of  his  age 
Than  Naois  in  Glen  Urchain." 

Now,  on  the  north  shore  of  Loch-Ness  and  opposite  Dun  Dearduil 
we  have  the  beautiful  Glen  of  Urquhart  (in  Gaelic,  Gleann  Urchu- 
dairi),  and  there  can,  I  think,  be  little  doubt  that  that  is  the  glen 
of  which  Dearduil  sang.     Without  leaving  Glen-Urquhart,  I  may 
mention  that  Anderson,  in  his  "  Guide  to  the  Highlands,"  supposes 
that  the  ancient  temple  which  stood  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Temple  Pier  was  the  same  as  the  church  of  Maolrubha,  built  about 
600  ;  but  in  the  Annals  of  Tighernach,  who  died  in  1088,  the 
place  in   which  that  church  was  erected  is  called  Apurcrossan, 
which  certainly  is  not  Glen-TJrquhart,  and  may  be  Applecross. 
Few  intelligent  Scotchmen  are,   I  presume,  ignorant  of  the  fact 
that  Scotland  was  at  one  time  divided  into  seven  provinces,  but  I 
venture   to   say   that   there    are   not   many    who    are    aware   of 
another  fact  recorded  in  a  Gaelic  verse  quoted  by  Gillecaomhan, 
who    died    in    1072,    that   this   arrangement   had   its    origin  in 
the  division  of  Alban  among  the  seven  sons  of  Cruithne.     The 
Picts,    whose   king   in    the    time   of  Columba    had    his    palace 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Inverness,  are    frequently    mentioned, 
and  at  a  later  period  we  have  the  murder  in  our  vicinity  of  the 
"  Gracious  Duncan,"  of  Shakespeare,  by  Macbeth,  the  Maormor  of 
the  ancient,  and  for  a  long  time  independent,  province  of  Moray, 
in  the  very  centre  of  which  we  now  are ;  the  career  of  Macbeth 
as  King  of  Scotland  ;  and  the  wars  in  which  the  Celts  of  Moray 
were  from  time  to  time  engaged  in  defence  of  their  ancient  rights, 
until  at  last  the  bloody  tale  ends  with  the  significant  words,  under 
the  year  1130 — "Ar  fer  Muriamh  in  Albain" — (the  slaughter  of  the 
men  of  Moray  in  Alban).     I  have  now  endeavoured  to  indicate  the 
extent  and  value  of  our  ancient  written  literature.     I  need  not  tell 


40  TRANSACTIONS. 

you  of  the  mass  of  oral  literature  which  we  possess  in  the  shape  of 
beautiful  tales  and  stirring  ballads,  a  great  part  of  which  has  been 
collected  and  published  by  Mr  J.  F.  Campbell  of  Islay,  nor  of  the 
"  Poems  of  Ossian  "  which,  no  matter  by  whom  they  were  com- 
posed, were  sufficient,  when  published,  to  send  a  Celtic  thrill 
through  the  intellect  of  Europe,  nor  yet  of  the  numerous  Gaelic 
bards  who  have  flourished  within  the  last  two  centuries.  For  an 
account  of  all  these  and  the  progress  of  Gaelic  literature  generally, 
1  refer  you  to  the  works  of  Dr  M'Lauchlan,  Professor  Bourke,  and 
our  own  chief.  At  no  other  time  within  the  history  of  the  Celt 
did  his  literature  receive  such  attention  from  Celt  and  Saxon  as  it 
now  does.  Success  then  let  us  drink  to  it ;  in  prosperity  may  it 
more  and  more  increase ;  and  may  the  time  be  not  far  distant 
when  no  Briton  shall  deem  his  education  complete  without  some 
knowledge  of  the  ancient  literature  of  his  native  land.  Let  me 
couple  the  toast  with  the  name  of  the  Rev.  Mr  Macgregor,  one  of  the 
oldest  and  raciest  of  the  Gaelic  writers  of  our  day.  His  beautiful 
translation  of  the  Apocrypha,  undertaken  at  the  request,  and  pub- 
lished at  the  expense,  of  that  eminent  Celtic  scholar  Prince  Lucien 
Bonaparte,  is  sufficient  to  hand  his  name  down  to  posterity  as  a 
Gaelic  scholar ;  but  perhaps  he  will  live  more  in  the  affection  of 
his  countrymen  as  the  genial  •''  Sgiathanach"  and  "  Alasdair  Ruadh  " 
of  our  Highland  magazines  and  newspapers.  (Loud  cheers.) 

The  Rev.  Mr  Macgregor  replied  in  Gaelic.  At  the  outset,  he 
alluded  to  his  great  love  for  his  mother  tongue — A'  chainnt  bhiim 
bhlasda  a  bha  ann  o  chein— mar  a  thubhairt  am  bard — 

"  Bh'aig  Adharnh  's  aig  Eubha, 
Roimh  fheuni  'bhi  air  aitlreachas, 
Mun  d'  chiontaich  iad  an  Eden, 
Gun  eucail,  gun  smal  orra  ; 
Air  olc  mu'n  robh  iad  eolach, 
Gun  chomhdach,  gun  ath'  orra ; 
Do'n  pheac'  gun  bhi  na'n  traillean, 
'S  o'n  gharadh  gun  charachadh." 

He  then  proceeded  —Ann  an  neo-chiontas  chum  ar  ceud  sinnsre 
comhradh  binn  agus  caidreach  ri  cheile  'sa  chanain  sin  a  thainig 
a  nuas  air  feadh  gach  linn  gus  an  d'  fhuair  i  tuineachas  air  mor- 
thir  na  Roinn-Eorpa.  An  sin  bha  i  'na  steidh  110  'na  bunait  do'n 
Ghreugais  agus  do'n  Laidinn,  agus  do  chainntibh  eile.  As  an 
.  Rpinn-Eorpa,  an  deigh  linntean  dol  seachad,  thainig  a'  Ghailig 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  41 

lurach  a  nail  thar  chu&n,  agus  fhuaif  i  fasgadh  ann  an  Alba,  agus 

Eirinn,  's  an  Eilean  Mhanainneach,  's  an  Odhailt,  agus  ann  an 

cearnaibh  eile.     Uime  sin,  tha  Ghailig  urramach  fathast  sgiiobhta 

ann  an  ainmibh  gach  beinn  agus  bealach,  gach  slochd  agus  cnochd, 

gach  amhainn  agus  allt,  gach  ruidh  agus  rudha,  cha'n  e  nihain  air 

feadh  Alba  gu  leir,  ach  mar  an  ceudna  air  mor-thir  na  Roinn- 

Eorpa.     Cha'n   'eil    teagamh    nach   d'   ionnsaich    Ceann-feadhna 

Comunix  Gailig  Inbhirnis  am  mor  eolas  aige  air  a  Ghailig,  o  blxi 

faicinn  gu'n  robh  i  'na  steidh,  'na  bunait,  agus  'na  freumh  do'n 

Ghreugais  agus  do'n  Laidinn  air  am  bheil  e  co  fiosrach.     Is  mior- 

bhuileach  an  durachd  a  ta  lionadh  cridhe  av  Ceaun-feadhna  chum 

a'  Ghailig  eiridinn.     Leis  an  strith  a  rinn  e,  tha  Caithir  na  Gailig 

a  cheana  air  a  tri  cosaibh.     An  sin,  suidhear  air  a'  chaithir  sin 

duine  foghluimte  eigin,  a  bhios  a'  craobh-sgaoileadh  gach  fiosrachaidh 

mu'n  Ghailig  eadar  bhun  agus  bharr  air  feadh  gach  cearnaidh  de 

dh-Alba,  agus  d'  an  rioghachd  air  fad.     Is  miorbhuileach  an  dichioll 

a  rinneadh  leis  an  Oilamh  urramach,  Blackie  fein,  chum  na  criche 

so,  an  uair  nach  'eil  boinne  a  dh-fhuil  nan  Gaidheal  'na  chuislibh  ! 

Ach  tha  e  cianail,  maslachail  a  bhi  faicinn  mar  a  ta  a'  Ghailig  air 

a  druideadh  a  mach  as  gach  tigh-sgoile  ann  an  Gaidhealtachd  na 

h-Alba,  agus  an  oigridh  air  am  fagail  co  aineolach  ri  lothaibh  nan 

asail   fiadhaich  air  cainnt  am  mathar  fein.     Cha'n  'eil  na  h-ard 

chumhachdan  a  shuidhich  na  sgoilean  sin,  a'  toirt  aon  chuid  comais 

no  duais  do'n  luchd-teagaisg  chum  Gailig  a  thoirt  idir  do'n  oigridh, 

agus  air  an  aobhar   sin,  cha'n  urrainn  iad  Focal  an  Tighearna  a 

leughadh  ann  an  cainnt  am  mathar  fein ;  agus  is  nar  an  gnothuch 

e  !     Tha  e  taitneach,  gidheadh,  gu'm  bheil  gach  Comunn  Gaidh- 

ealach  anns   'n  rioghachd  air  fad  a  dh-aon  inntinii  chum  so  ath- 

leasachadh,  agus  tha  na  Comunna   sin  lionmhor.     Cha  mhor  baile 

ann  am  Breatunn  anns  nach  'eil  Comunn  Gailig.     Tha  iad  ann  an 

Lunainn,  Duneideann,  Glaschu,  Giianaig,  Cillribhinn,  Dundeagh, 

Abaireadhan,    agus    ann   am  bailtibh  eile.     Agus  c'ait  am  bheil 

Comunn  ni's  rianaile,  dillse,  durachdaich,  agus  deine  na  Comunn 

Gailig  Inbhirnis  ?     Tha  buill  a'  Chomuinn  so  a'  dol  gu'n  dulan  chum 

gach  reachd  agus  cleachd  a  bhuineas  do  na  Gaidheil  a  churnail  air 

chuimhne,  agus  chum  gach  riaghailt  agus  innleachd  a  ghnathachadh 

chum  sliochd  nam  beann  ath-leasachadh  a  thaobh  nithe  aimsiieil  agus 

spioradail.     Tha  'n  Comunn  gu  mor  air  a  chuideachadh  chum  na 

criche  so  le  da  thi  ro  chumhachdach  anns  a'  bhaile  so  fein,  agus 

labhrar  umpa  a  reir  an  inbhe  agus  an  aois.     Tha  againn,  an  tois- 

each,  an  t-Ard-Albannach  coir,  agus  is  diulnach  laghach  e.     Ged  is 

iongantach  e  ri  radii,  cha'n  'eil  e  ach  air  eigin  ceithir  bliadhna  dh' 


42  TRANSACTIONS. 

aois,  gidheadh,  chithear  e,  le  bhonaid  leathainn  agus  le  bhreacan- 
an-fheile,  a'  siubhal  o  bhaile  gu  baile,  o  chomunn  gu  comunn,  a' 
labhairt,  ag  eisdeachd,  a'  teagasg,  agus  a'  sparradh  nithe  iomchuidh 
chum  a  luchd-duthcha  a  sheoladh  air  an  t-slighe  cheart  chuna  an 
leas  fein.  Gu  robh  gach  deagh  bhuaidh  leis.  Ach  tha  oganach 
treun  agus  deas-chainnteach  eile  againn  ann  am  priomh-bhaile  so 
na  Gaidhealtachd,  agus  cha'n  'eil  e  fathast  ach  beagan  thar  bliadhna 
dh'  aois,  gidheadh  is  comharraichte  tapaidh  am  balachan  e.  Is  e 
Mios-leabhar  Gaidhealach  (Celtic  Magazine)  is  ainm  dha.  Tha  deagh 
fhiaclan  aige  a  cheana,  leis  an  gearr  agus  am  bearr  e  gach  ni,  ann 
an  cumadh  freagarrach  chum  maith  a  luchd-duthcha.  Is  iongan- 
tach  an  storas  eolais  a  tha  aige  air  seann  sgeulaibh,  eachdraidhean- 
ceilidh,  faisneachdan  soilleir,  agus  nithe  eugsamhla  eile.  Gheibhear 
'sa  Mhios-leabhar  so,  eachdraidh  chuimir  air  gach  deasboireachd  mu 
bhardachd  Oisein,  far  am  bheil  comas  labhairt  aig  luchd-dionaiclh 
agus  luchd-aicheadh  a'  bhaird  urramaich  sin.  Tha  mor  speis  aig  an 
"  Sgiathanach  "  do'n  dithis  oganach  so,  agus  gu  ma  fada  a  bhios  iad 
le  cheile  air  an  caomhnadh  chum  cuideachadh  le  Comunn  Gailig  a' 
bhaile  so,  agus  leis  gach  Comunn  agus  cuideachd  anns  gach  cear- 
nadh  dhe'n  rioghachd.  Ach  tha  Gaidheal  eile  ann  an  Duneideann,  a 
ta  beagan  ni's  sine  na'n  dithis  a  dh'  ainmicheadh,  agus  is  treun  an 
t-oganach  e.  Is  taitneach  leis  an  t-seann  "  Sgiathanach  "  agus  le 
"  Alasdair  Ruadh  "—a  bhi  cuideachadh  leis  a  reir  a'  chumhachd  a 
thugadh  dhoibh.  Cha'n  ioghnadh  an  "  Sgiathanach  "  a  bhi  liath- 
cheannach  oir  tha  dluth  air  da  fhichead  bliadhna  on  chunnacas  e 
anns  na  iurasaibh  aig  "  Cuairtear  nan  Gleann "  agus  "  Fear- 
tathaich  nam  Beann."  Ach  buaidh  le  Comunn  Gailig  a'  bhaile  so. 
Cha'n  fhada  gus  am  faic  agus  gus  an  cluinn  iad  an  dian-dheasboir 
foghluimte  sin  an  t-Ollamh  Waddell  a'  cur  smuid  ri  luchd-aicheadh 
Oisein,  agus  a'  dearbhadh  le  iomad  comhdachadh  soilleir  gun  robh 
Mac-Mhuirich  co  eucomasach  air  Dain  Oisein  a  dhealbhadh,  ri  bala- 
chan 'san  Oil-thigh  rioghail  againn  fein,  chum  dain  Homer  an 
Greugach,  no  Virgil  am  Feudailteach  a  chur  an  altaibh  a'  cheile. 
Deich  mile  beannachd  aig  na  Goill — Blackie,  Sharp,  agus  Waddell — 
oir  aca-san  fa  leih  tha  cridhe  Gaidhealach  ann  an  cochull  Gallda. 

Mr  D.  Campbell,  Bridge  Street,  proposed  "The  Members  of  Par- 
liament for  the  County  and  Burgh."  Lochiel,  he  said,  was  widely 
known  and  admired  as  a  member  of  Parliament  and  a  Highland 
gentleman.  Mr  Fraser-Mackintosh  was  also  well-known  as  per- 
haps the  only  member  of  Parliament  who  knew  and  could  speak 
Gaelic. 

Sir  Kenneth  Mackenzie  of  Gairloch  was  received  with  loud 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  43 

cheei-s,  and  in  proposing  the  toast  of  "  Highland  Education,"  re- 
ferred to  the  disinclination  of  the  Education  Department  to  recog- 
nise in  the  Highlander's  mother-tongue  a  valuable  instrument  of 
education  for  the  Highlander.  He  considered  that  in  other  re- 
spects the  educational  interests  of  the  Highlands  had  been  well 
cared  for  by  the  Government,  and  that  among  the  specialities  of 
Highland  education  the  cardinal  point  that  remained  to  be  dealt 
•with  was  the  introduction  of  Gaelic  into  the  school  curriculum. 
In  the  frequent  discussions  on  primary  education,  it  had  seemed  to 
him  most  extraordinary  how  seldom  the  speakers  regarded  educa- 
tion as  dealing  with  anything  but  the  intellect,  and  more  especially 
was  this  remarkable  when  the  provision  of  educational  means  was 
held  to  be  a  duty  of  the  State.  What  interest  had  the  State  in 
the  matter,  unless  to  make  better  citizens,  by  seeing  the  youth  of 
the  country  brought  up  to  recognise  and  observe  the  law  of  sound 
duty,  and  to  fit  themselves  for  its  performance  1  To  society  the 
moral  side  of  primary  education  was  surely  as  important  as  its  in- 
tellectual one.  It  might  no  doubt  be  said  that  the  cultivation  of 
the  intelligence  laid  the  foundation  of  morals,  since  your  duty  to 
your  neighbour  was  but  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  your  own 
Self-interest ;  but,  though  this  principle  might  suffice  to  frame  an 
ethical  code,  the  intelligence  of  the  mass  of  humanity  would  never 
induce  them  from  pure  selfishness  to  love  their  neighbour  as  them- 
selves. The  sanction  for  laws  of  social  duty  was  to  be  found  in  an 
underlying  religious  sentiment,  and  while  the  State  wisely  declined 
to  assist  a  sectarian  education,  it  could  n»t  afford  to  ignore  or  de- 
preciate this  religious  instinct  which  gave  to  the  moral  code  the 
force  of  law.  Hence,  it  seemed  to  him  that  where  Gaelic  was  the 
medium  of  instruction  from  the  pulpit  and  of  devotional  exercise 
in  the  family,  where  all  the  promptings  of  faith  in  the  Unseen, 
and  every  aspiration  after  a  nobler  and  more  self  denying  life  took 
form  in  this  language,  it  would  be  most  unwise,  or  even  unsafe,  to 
displace  it  by  a  side-wind  in  the  course  of  imparting  a  secular  edu- 
tion.  Even  those  who  hold  Gaelic  to  be  an  obstruction  to  educa- 
tion might  well  take  thought  whether,  in  rooting  up  what  to  them 
seemed  tares,  they  might  not  be  in  danger  of  rooting  up  the  wheat 
with  them.  He  had  drawn  their  attention  to  this  view,  from  the 
moral  side  of  the  question,  because  Professor  Blackie  did  not 
happen  to  have  noticed  it  in  the  paper  contributed  to  the  Novem- 
ber number  of  the  Gaidheal.  In  that  paper  the  Professor  had 
shown  convincingly  that  Gaelic  literature  was  a  study  fitted  to 
impart  a  natural  culture  to  the  Highlands,  and  that  the  Gaelic 


i  4  TRANSACTIONS. 

language  properly  used,  was  an  important  auxiliary  to  the  teaching 
of  English.  The  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness  had  long  felt  the 
force  ol  these  and  similar  considerations,  and  had  petitioned  the 
Government  to  allow  the  teaching  of  Gaelic  in  Highland  schools. 
But  the  Society's  efforts  had  hitherto  been  fruitless,  because  though 
agreed  in  principle  they  were  not  agreed  on  details.  Generally 
speaking,  Highland  teachers  would  say  it  was  preferable  that 
children  should  be  taught  to  read  English  before  Gaelic  was  intro- 
duced at  all,  but  though  so  far  united,  they  were  not  at  one  as  to 
the  position  Gaelic  should  occupy  in  the  schedule  of  results  for 
which  payment  was  to  be  made.  Room  for  still  wider  differences 
of  opinion  lay,  however,  in  the  question  whether,  after  all,  element- 
ary instruction  should  not  always  be  commenced  in  the  mother 
tongue.  The  system  of  teaching  in  State-aided  schools  had  been 
modelled  for  the  use  of  English-speaking  children,  but  it  had  been 
most  carefully  elaborated  for  its  purpose,  and  was  acknowledged  to 
be  in  every  way  excellent.  Yet,  neither  under  this  system  nor 
under  the  system  in  use  in  the  secondary  schools  of  this  coxmtry 
was  it  now-a-days  ever  attempted  to  give  precedence  in  the  order  of 
teaching  to  a  foreign  language  over  the  vernacular,  unless  the  ver- 
nacular were  Gaelic.  It  was  impossible  to  believe  there  was  any- 
thing in  the  nature  of  Gaelic  to  justify  this  special  treatment,  and 
his  own  observations  had  led  him  to  the  conclusion  that  the  com- 
mon system  of  teaching  nothing  but  English  to  children  who  knew 
nothing  but  Gaelic  produced  very  miserable  results.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  thesfe  purely  Gaelic-speaking  children  were  to 
be  found  chiefly  in  the  Islands  and  West  Highlands.  Poorly  fed 
and  poorly  clad,  living  in  an  inhospitable  climate,  often  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  school,  very  regular  attendance  could  not 
be  expected  from  them  till  they  attained  an  age  and  strength  when 
too  frequently  their  services  were  needed  to  aid  in  the  maintenance 
of  the  family.  Such  children  seldom  got  far  enough  advanced  to 
retain  what  they  had  learned  at  school.  They  did  not  understand 
the  English  they  pretended  to  read,  and  they  could  not  read  the 
Gaelic  they  might  have  understood,  and  were  of  course  unable  to 
express  themselves  in  writing  in  any  language  whatever.  It 
seemed  to  him  that  if  their  education  was  commenced  in  their  own 
language,  their  intelligence  would  be  quickened,  they  would  learn 
more  quickly  and  retain  more  easily  what  they  learned,  and  they 
would  feel  an  interest  in  their  school  work,  and  make  some  effort 
to  overcome  the  obstacles  to  their  continuance  at  school  past  the 
prescribed  age  of  13.  Under  this  system  the  Highland  child 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  4-5 

would  not  only  receive  instruction  in  its  own  language,  but  might 
be  expected  to  leave  school  with  such  a  knowledge  of  English,  both 
colloquial  and  literary,  as  would  form  a  good  equipment  for  its 
life-work.  He  would  not  detain  them  longer,  but  wished  to  im- 
press upon  them  that  it  was  essential  this  subject  should  be 
thoroughly  ventilated  on  all  sides,  so  as  to  secure  thorough  unity 
of  opinion  and  action.  It  was  not  enough  that  this  Society  should 
be  united.  They  must  carry  with  them  the  Highland  teachers  and 
the  Highland  people,  and  if  they  could  only  do  this,  he  did  not 
believe  they  would  have  any  difficulty  in  securing  the  co-operation 
of  the  Education  Department.  He  coupled  the  toast  with  the 
name  of  Mr  Jolly,  H.  M.  Inspector. 

Mr  Jolly,  in  replying,  remarked  that  although  the  question  of 
teaching  Gaelic  had  been  largely  discussed,  there  was  no  certain 
consensus  of  opinion  regarding  it.  The  general  view,  however,  was 
coming  to  be  that  they  ought  to  begin  with  English — the  staple 
language,  the  language  of  the  country,  of  literature,  of  commerce, 
and  of  common  life.  There  is  no  objection,  he  said,  to  begin  with 
Gaelic  if  we  had  time  to  do  both ;  but  as  time  is  short,  we  have  to 
consider  which  is  the  better  course.  The  more  I  look  at  the  sub- 
ject, the  more  I  am  convinced  that  the  true  way  is  to  begin  with 
English,  but  to  use  Gaelic  as  a  medium  for  the  culture  of  the 
child's  intelligence.  It  is  hard  enough  for  any  child,  Highland  or 
Lowland,  to  acquire  a  written  language ;  and  if  you  lay  a  double 
portion  on  the  Highland  child — if  you  ask  him  to  acquire  two  lan- 
guages— you  immensely  increase  his  difficulties.  At  the  same 
time,  the  vernacular  should  be  used  to  cultivate  his  intelligence, 
and  to  secure  that  the  Highland  child  shall  become  acquainted  with 
the  rich  and  varied  literature  of  the  Gaelic  tongue.  I  assure  you 
that  the  failure  of  children  to  understand  what  they  read  is  not 
peculiar  to  Highland  schools.  The  culture  of  intelligence  along 
with  the  reading  has  so  far  been  a  rare  matter,  and  depends  upon 
the  teacher,  not  upon  the  language.  The  great  thing  is  to  come  to 
Government  with  sensible,  practical,  and  temperate  demands  ;  and, 
I  think,  to  get  Gaelic  placed  in  the  code  with  Latin  and  Greek  as 
a  special  subject,  would  really  be  practical  and  satisfactory. 

Mr  Stewart  of  Brin  proposed  "The  Commercial  and  Agricultural 
Interests  of  the  Highlands."  He  said  he  was  not  going  to  main- 
tain that  the  commerce  and  agriculture  of  the  country  could  be 
best  carried  on  in  the  language  of  the  Celt ;  but  he  believed  many 
of  their  Celtic  brethren  would  be  able  at  the  Muir  of  Ord  or  the 
Corn  Exchange  to  make  as  good  a  bargain  as  their  English  friends. 


46  TRANSACTIONS. 

He  then  referred  to  the  past  agriculture  of  the  Highlands ;  to  the 
trade  of  Inverness  and  its  connection  with  the  western  districts  and 
islands ;  to  the  opening  up  of  the  Highlands  with  roads,  and  the 
construction  of  the  Caledonian  Canal ;  and  lastly,  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  steamers  and  railways.  There  was  one  article  of  commerce 
in  Inverness,  he  said,  which  was  very  successful,  and  which  has 
very  much  fallen  off — I  mean  the  salmon  fisheries.  It  is  a  curious 
fact  that  in  1794  the  fisheries  of  the  Ness — the  Four  Cobles — were 
let  at  a  rent  of  £211  each,  the  whole  being  nearly  .£900.  The 
leases  of  the  tenants  (which  were  for  fifteen  and  sixteen  years) 
contained  this  stipulation — that  in  November  and  December  the 
tacksmen  should  be  obliged  to  furnish  50  salmon  a-month  to  the 
inhabitants  at  the  price  of  4d  a-pound ;  during  January,  February, 
March,  and  April,  150  salmon  per  month  at  the  same  price  ;  and 
during  all  the  rest  of  the  year  as  many  as  the  inhabitants  required 
at  2d  per  pound.  I  am  afraid  there  is  very  little  chance  of  re- 
calling those  times,  however  much  we  might  desire  it.  As  a  con- 
trast, I  may  add  that  during  the  ten  years,  from  1843  to  1853,  the 
fisheries  that  produced  £211  in  1794  only  realised  an  annual  rent 
of  £17  11s  ;  and  this  was  paid  not  by  tacksmen  to  send  the  fish  to 
market,  but  by  persons  coming  to  angle  in  the  river.  What  the 
cause  of  this  deterioration  was  I  am  not  going  to  inquire.  My 
own  opinion  is  that  stake  nets  and  other  nets  in  the  estuary  had 
something  to  do  with  it ;  and  others  think  that  when  the  Canal 
was  made  a  great  many  fish  entered  it  and  were  destroyed.  The 
Canal  was  opened  about  1823  or  1824.  Down  to  that  period  the 
trade  of  Inverness  was  carried  on  principally  by  smacks,  four  of 
which  plied  between  Inverness  and  London.  Before  1800  the 
mails  were  carried  round  by  Aberdeen,  partly  on  horseback  and 
partly  by  one  horse  cars.  In  1808  the  Caledonian  coach  for  the 
first  time  left  Inverness,  and  performed  the  journey  to  Perth  in 
two  days.  The  old  smacks  sometimes  took  a  long  period  to  get  to 
the  end  of  their  voyage.  I  have  been  told  of  the  case  of  a  relative 
of  mine  who  was  going  to  attend  the  medical  classes  in  London, 
and  who  left  in  the  middle  of  October,  hoping  to  reach  his  destina- 
tion in  the  beginning  of  November.  He  was,  however,  six  weeks 
on  the  way,  and  this  was  by  no  means  an  infrequent  occurrence. 
About  the  end  of  1825  a  steamer  began  to  ply  between  Inverness, 
Aberdeen,  and  London.  Finally  came  the  railways  ;  and  we  ought 
to  be  deeply  grateful  to  the  gallant  men  who  have  constructed  400 
miles  of  railway  at  an  expense  of  about  four  millions  of  money. 
It  seems  a  small  thing  now,  but  I  know  that  great  risks  were  run. 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  -i  7 

I  knew  one  honourable  baronet  who  was  asked  to  sign  a  bill  for 
£50,000  or  £60,000,  and  who  replied — "  Oh  yes,  any  amount  you 
please —  a  million  if  you  like  ;  I  am  in  so  deep  already  that  the 
amount  does  not  matter."  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  interposition 
of  credit  by  Ardross,  the  Duke  of  Sutherland,  I  think  also  the 
gentleman  who  sits  at  your  right  (Sir  Kenneth  Mackenzie),  and 
others,  this  great  work  would  never  have  been  accomplished.  The 
construction  of  railways  has  been  our  greatest  achievement  in  the 
North,  and  I  need  not  say  how  much  it  has  contributed  to  the  de- 
velopment of  our  material  and  social  welfare.  He  coupled  the 
toast  with  the  names  of  Mr  John  Macdonald,  Exchange,  Inver- 
ness, and  Mr  Gumming,  Allanfearn. 

Mr  Macdonald,  in  replying,  said  he  was  sure  that  every  trader 
in  Inverness  would  bear  him  out  in  saying  that  their  business  con- 
nections with  the  inland  districts  were  of  as  much  pleasure  as  profit 
to  them.  He  did  not  agree  with  those  who  thought  the  Society 
had  little  to  do  with  the  commerce  and  agriculture  of  the  High- 
lands. Very  properly  at  present  the  language  and  literature  of 
the  Celt  occupy  a  great  measure  of  attention,  but  the  Society  would 
never  succeed  until  they  took  notice  of,  and  grappled  with,  some 
of  the  difficulties  attending  the  commercial  and  agricultural  inter- 
ests of  the  country.  We  can  have  no  commercial  prosperity  unless 
we  have  an  abounding  population  busily  employed,  and  the  High- 
land proprietor  who  could  so  arrange  that  two  families  can  live 
where  only  one  does  at  present  would  be  a  benefactor  to  his  coun- 
try. We  have,  he  said,  a  labour  question  in  the  Highlands,  not  a 
matter  between  master  and  men,  but  a  want  of  labour.  A  great 
amount  of  good  would  be  done  if  the  large  amount  of  labour  at 
present  lying  idle  could  be  employed. 

Mr  Gumming  returned  thanks,  remarking  that  he  was  glad  to 
see  so  much  interest  was  taken  in  agricultural  matters,  and  trusted 
the  agriculturists  would  continue  to  merit  the  praises  bestowed 
upon  them  for  their  enterprise. 

Mr  Innes  proposed  the  "  Celtic  Chair."  The  founding  of  a 
Celtic  Professorship,  he  said,  has  been  one  of  the  primary  objects 
of  more  than  one  Scottish  Society.  Though  the  original  constitu- 
tion of  the  Highland  Society  of  London,  the  parent  of  such  associa- 
tions as  this,  which  at  first  was  called  the  Gaelic  Society,  and 
founded  about  1780,  included  the  establishment  of  such  a  chair 
among  its  objects,  its  members  do  not  appear  at  any  stage  of  its  his- 
tory to  have  over-exerted  themselves  in  an  endeavour  to  carry  out 
that  object.  The  present  Gaelic  Society  of  London,  which  sprang 


48  TRANSACTIONS. 

into  existence  in  1830,  made  various  attempts — notably  in  1835 
and  1839 — to  induce  the  Government  of  the  day  to  endow  a  Chair, 
but  when  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  in  the  latter  year  very 
naturally  suggested  to  them  that  the  Celts  of  Scotland  should  first 
show  their  interest  in,  and  belief  in  the  necessity  for  the  Chair,  by 
getting  together  a  portion  of  the  amount  required  to  endow  it, 
promising  that  if  that  were  done  the  Government  would  consider 
whether  they  would  not  grant  an  equal  sum,  the  Society  took 
fright,  and  the  agitation  was  dropped.  In  1869 — that  is,  after  the 
lapse  of  30  years,  the  matter  was  again  taken  up  by  the  same 
Gaelic  Society.  The  Highland  Society  was  approached,  but  they, 
to  say  the  least,  were  not  enthusiastic.  Articles  appeared  in  the 
newspapers  ;  the  Celts  of  Inverness  took  a  part  in  the  discussion  ; 
and  the  General  Coxincil  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh  took  the 
matter  up,  appointed  a  committee  and  a  secretary,  and  in  the  usual 
•way  made  appeals  by  sending  out  circulars  to  the  people  who  were 
thought  likely  to  subscribe — the  result  of  the  appeal  then  made 
being,  if  I  remember  rightly,  than  one  subscription  of  £1  Is  was 
magnanimously  promised.  The  name  of  the  man  who  thus  patrioti- 
cally stepped  forward  should  be  preserved,  For  one  or  two  years 
Professor  Macgregor  annually  wailed  out  his  report  to  the  General 
Council,  and  in  the  end,  need  it  be  wondered,  resigned.  Well- 
wishers  of  the  movement  were  in  despair,  but  not  for  long,  for 
when  the  prospects  looked  very  black  indeed,  our  heroic  friend, 
Professor  Blackie,  did  not  step,  but  leaped  to  the  front,  and  vowed 
he  would  raise  £10,000,  or  perish  in  the  attempt.  As  became  a 
Professor  of  Greek,  he  foresaw  that  to  attain  success  it  was  neces- 
sary to  follow  the  Demosthenic  plan,  and  do  three  things — namely, 
to  agitate,  agitate,  and  yet  again  to  agitate ;  and  what  has  been  the 
result  of  his  agitation  ?  Why,  he  has,  within  about  two  years  got 
together,  what  no  one  but  he  could  have  got,  the  handsome  sum  of 
£9000.  To  obtain  this  sum,  he  has  had  to  eat  about  as  many 
dinners  as  it  would,  on  a  mild  calculation,  have  taken  to  destroy 
the  digestive  organs  of  an  ordinary  Highland  regiment.  (Laugh- 
ter.) He  has  had  to  deliver  lectures,  addresses,  and  speeches,  the 
mere  contemplation  ot  which  is  sufficient  to  take  away  the  breath 
of  even  a  Gaelic  society.  He  has  appeared  in  furtherance  of  his 
object  on  the  stages  of  theatres,  as  also  on  the  platforms  of  music- 
halls  innumerable,  and  if  not  in  the  pulpifc,  at  anyrate  in  the  pre- 
centor's desks  of  several  churches.  The  question  has  often  been 
asked,  how  comes  it  that  the  Professor,  a  Saxon  born  and  bred, 
takes  such  an  interest  in  the  establishment  of  this  Celtic  Chair  1 


ANNUAL   DINNER.  49 

There  have  been  many  theories  broached  on  the  subject ;  allow  me 
to  tell  you  mine.  In  olden  times — before  our  Chief  was  born — 
certain  little  people  inhabited  these  northern  lands.  They  were 
called  Sithichean.  Now,  these  little  people,  out  of  mere  mischief 
or  frolic,  occasionally,  when  a  fond  mother  was  asleep,  changed  the 
little  darling  by  her  side  and  substituted  another  and  a  different 
child.  That,  gentlemen,  accounts  for  the  number  of  people  living 
in  oiir  midst  bearing  Highland  names,  and  whose  origin  is  taken 
to  be  Celtic,  but  who  neither  possess  any  of  the  characteristics  of 
the  race,  nor  any  particle  of  the  feeling  and  sentiment  by  which  its 
true  sons  are  animated.  That,  too,  must,  I  firmly  believe,  Lave 
been  the  misfortune  which  overtook  our  friend,  soon  after  his  birth. 
Now  that  he  has  been  restored  to  his  kith  and  kin,  and  shown  the 
stuff  of  which  he  is  really  made,  there  is  no  mistaking  his  origin  or 
his  race,  and  no  man  will  ever  convince  me  that  that  man  is  not  a 
born  Celt.  Consider  the  characteristics  by  which  he  is  distin- 
guished. His  enthusiasm,  his  love  of  country,  his  clannishness, 
his  genuineness,  his  determination,  his  pluck,  his  fearlessness. 
These  are  characteristics  of  the  Celt,  and  one  or  other  of  them  is 
at  all  times  found  in  representatives  of  the  race,  while  in  Blackie 
the  concentrated  essence  of  all  is  combined.  He  is  a  Celt  all  over, 
and  as  Chief  of  a  Society  such  as  ours  we  could  not  have  a  better 
or  more  representative  man.  Having  now  referred  to  the  Professor, 
I  fear,  however,  in  far  too  feeble  language,  considering  what  he  de- 
serves at  our  hands,  let  me  say  a  few  words  of  the  Chair.  I  have 
heard  that  Chair  more  than  once  called,  and  in  this  very  town 
among  other  places,  the  Gaelic  Chair.  Now,  I  take  it  in  a  meeting 
of  a  society  like  this,  I  need  hardly  remind  you  that  the  Chair  is  to 
be  far  more  than  a  Gaelic,  for  it  is  to  be  a  Celtic  Chair.  As  you 
know,  the  Celtic  family  is  divided  into  two  great  branches — the 
Gaelic  find  Cymric,  the  former  being  the  oldest  and  embracing  the 
Gaelic  of  Scotland,  the  Irish,  and  the  Manx,  while  the  Cymric  em- 
braces the  Cornish,  the  Welsh,  and  the  Bas  Breton.  With  the 
Gaelic  of  Scotland  we  are  all  familiar  ;  during  a  recent  run  through 
Ireland,  though  I  made  the  attempt,  I  could  get  no  reply  in  pure 
and  unadulterated  Irish  to  my  oft  repeated  Gaelic  da  mar  tka  sibh. 
That  was  my  misfortune ;  because  there  are  many  thousands  of 
Irish-speaking  people  in  the  Emerald  Isle.  Never  having  visited 
the  Isle  of  Man,  with  the  Manx,  as  a  spoken  tongue,  1  have  no 
acquaintance.  Having  on  several  occasions  been  in  Cornwall,  you 
may  be  sure  I  considered  it  my  duty  to  make  some  inquiries  as  to 
the  old  Cornish  language.  A  MS.  vocabulary,  SOOUyears  old,  is 

D 


50  TRANSACTIONS. 

still  preserved  in  the  Bodleian  Library.  English  was  first  used  in 
a  Cornish  church,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  but  by  the  begin- 
ning of  the  18th  century,  the  language  was  only  spoken  in  the 
west  of  the  country  ;  and  in  1778,  just  a  hundred  years  ago,  Dolly 
Pentreath,  who  was  the  last  person  able  to  speak  the  language, 
died.  As  every  member  of  the  Gaelic  Society  should,  I  felt  I  was 
bound  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  churchyard  in  which  her  remains  re- 
pose. A  memorial  tablet  has  recently  been  erected  to  her  memory 
by  that  well-known  Celtic  scholar,  Prince  Louis  Lucien  Bonaparte. 
The  inscription  is  in  English  and  Cornish.  Old  Dolly,  who  was  a 
"  puir  fisher  body,"  was  determined  the  language  would  lire  as 
long  as  possible,  for  she  only  consented  to  die  at  the  respectable 
age  of  102.  The  village  in  which  she  lived  is  now  called  by  the 
contemptible  name  of  Mousehole,  which,  I  believe,  is  a  barbarous 
corruption  of  Moz  Hel.  or  Maiden's  River.  This  is  a  specimen  of 
how  our  beautiful  Celtic  names  are  corrupted  by  coming  in  contact 
with  the  unimaginative  English.  Peter  Pindar  has  the  audacity  to 
say — 

"  Hail  !  Mousehole,  birth-place  of  Old  Doll  Pentreath, 
The  last  who  jabbered  Cornish." 

Fancy  talking  of  the  sweet  and  soft  language  of  Cornwall  in  that 
way — a  language  which  can  only  be  compared  to  the  sighing  of  the 
wind,  or  the  roll  of  the  blue  waves  as  they  wash  the  shores  of  Kin- 
ance  Cove  !  My  experience  of  the  Welsh  language  is  limited,  for 
it  is  really  fearful.  I  had  words  the  length  of  my  arm  with  whole 
bushels  of  consonants  thrown  at  my  head  for  two  days,  and  then 
escaped.  Not  that  the  length  of  the  Cymric  words  is  anything 
to  be  compared  with  that  of  words  found  in  Sanskrit,  for,  some 
time  ago,  in  reading  one  of  Sir  William  Jones'  translations,  I 
came  across  a  compound  word  which  had,  if  you  please,  only  152 
syllables.  After  some  remarks  on  comparative  philology,  Mr  Innes 
went  on  to  say — We  Celts  are  notoriously  proud  of  our  ancient  de- 
scent and  long  pedigrees,  but  have  we  been,  are  we,  as  proud  of 
our  language  as  we  ought  to  have  been  and  ought  to  be  ]  Many 
centuries,  ay,  countless  centuries,  before  the  oldest  parchment  by 
which  our  moat  ancient  existing  families  hold  their  lands  was 
manufactured,  our  race  and  our  language  lived  and  flourished. 
Nearly  500  years  before  Christ,  Herodotus,  the  father  of  history, 
referred  to  the  Celts  as  an  ancient  people,  but  only  in  such  a 
meagre  way  as  makes  us  wish  he  could  have  said  more.  Existing 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  51 

as  •we  hare,  as  a  distinct  people  for  so  long,  and  having  as  yet  kept 
fast  hold  of  our  language,  are  we  now  like  our  cousins  of  Cornwall 
going  either  from  indifference  or  supineness,  or  worse  still,  from, 
positive  or  affected  dislike,  to  allow  our  beautiful  descriptive  lan- 
guage, which  has  left  its  mark  on  the  topography  of  Europe,  to 
decay,  if  not  die  ?  Oh  !  if  you  are  true  Celts,  as  I  believe  you  to 
be,  surely  you  will  say  never  !  and  agree  with  the  Celtic  poet  when 
he  sings — 

"  Sweet  tongue  of  our  Druids  and  bards  of  past  ages  ! 
Sweet  tongue  of  our  monarchs,  our  saints,  and  our  sages  ! 
Sweet  tongue  of  our  heroes  and  free-born  sires  ! 
When  we  cease  to  preserve  thee  our  glory  expires  ! " 

The  Celtic  Chair  is  intended  to  foster  and  encourage  the  culture — 
the  scholarly  culture — of  the  Celtic  language,  its  dialects,  and  lit- 
erature. By  the  way  in  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  receive 
my  remarks,  I  cannot  but  see  you  approve  of  the  sentiments  to 
which  I  have  attempted  to  give  utterance.  That  being  so,  I  hope 
you  will  not  think  I  am  taking  a  liberty  when  I  announce  that  I 
am  now  going  to  borrow  a  hint  from  our  Latin  "  connections,"  by 
applying  te  you  what  they  would  style  the  "  argumentum  ad  homi- 
nem."  It  is  usual  at  gatherings  of  the  Highland  Society  and  other 
kindred  associations  to  send  round  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings 
what  is  metaphorically  called  the  "  hat."  Now,  we  have  not 
hitherto  done  that  here,  but  this  is  an  exceptional  meeting.  We 
have  here  with  us  to  night  occupying  the  chair  in  his  capacity  of 
our  Chief,  one  who  has,  as  I  have  already  said,  taken  an  infinity 
of  trouble  in  gathering  together  a  sum  to  enable  him  to  found  what 
really  is,  or  should  be,  our  Chair.  He  has  come  a  long  way  to 
oblige  us ;  do  not,  therefore,  let  him  go  away  empty  handed,  but 
let  us  present  him  with  a  handsome  sum,  as  our  collective  contribu- 
tion to  the  Celtic  Chair  Fund.  I  am  aware  some  of  the  gentlemen 
present  have  already  subscribed,  as  I  have  myself  done,  but  I  hope 
they  will  feel  as  I  do,  that  a  special  effort  is  now  necessary  to  make 
up  the  total  sum  required,  and  if  we,  the  members  of  the  Gaelic 
Society  of  the  Celtic  Capital  of  Scotland,  will  not  untie  our  purse- 
strings,  how  can  we  possibly  expect  people  at  a  distance  to  do  so  1 
I  have  brought  with  me  here  several  subscription-lists,  which,  with 
your  permission,  *dll  now  be  sent  round  the  tables,  in  order  that 
all  may  have  an  opportunity  of  inscribing  their  names,  and  the 
amount  of  their  donations  therein.  You  must  all  remember  the 

D2 


52  TRANSACTIONS. 

story  of  the  Quaker,  who,  at  a  charity  meeting,  was  annoyed  by- 
speaker  after  speaker  getting  up  and  saying  how  much  they  sym- 
pathised with  the  movement,  without  saying  whether  or  not,  and 
if  so,  how  much  in  £  s.  d.  they  were  prepared  to  subscribe.  He 
himself  got  up  at  last,  and  said  "  I  sympathise  £5."  Following 
that  very  worthy  precedent,  I  am  glad  to  say  my  friend  Mr  Mac- 
kintosh of  Holme,  who  has  always  taken  a  warm  interest  in  every- 
thing Celtic,  authorises  me  to  say  he  sympathises  £5  5s,  and  though 
I  have  already  given  as  much  as  I  thought  my  income  warranted 
my  doing,  I  feeling,  as  I  have  said,  that  a  special  effort  is  neces- 
sary, and  that  our  good  name  as  Celts  is  jeopardised  if  we  don't 
get  our  Chief  out  of  the  hole  in  which  he  has  managed  to  fling 
himself,  I  beg  to  say  I  also  sympathise  £5.  When  the  lists  have 
been  returned  to  me,  I  will  then,  in  your  name,  have  the  pleasure 
of  presenting  them  to  Professor  Blackie,  and  asking  you  to  drink 
with  more  cordiality  than  I  can  expect  from  you  at  this  stage,  his 
health  and  success  to  the  Celtic  Chair.  (Applause.)  The  subscrip- 
tion-lists were  then  handed  round,  and  Mr  Innes  intimated  that 
£53  14s  6d  had  been  subscribed.  He  then  asked  the  company  to 
drink  success  to  the  Celtic  Chair  and  Professor  Blackie.  (Loud 
and  prolonged  cheering.) 

Here  Mr  Hugh  Fraser  then  sang  **  Chunna  mi  'n  damh  donn 
's  na  h-eildean." 

Professor  Blackie,  in  replying,  said — I  did  not  know  that  this 
was  to  be  done,  but  it  was  a  right  thing  for  you  to  have  done,  be- 
cause the  University  of  Oxford  has  already  anticipated  us  by  estab- 
lishing a  Chair  The  sum  already  subscribed  is  above  £9000,  the 
sum  paid  up  is  £8500,  the  greater  portion  of  which  has  been  laid 
out  at  4£  per  cent,  on  heritable  security.  Did  every  Highlander 
give  his  mite,  we  will  soon  have  the  sum  of  £10,000,  but  to  be 
pleased  with  that  sum  would  not  be  gentlemanly — would  not  be 
Celtic.  We  must  have  £12,000.  (Cheers.) 

Mr  Colin  Chisholm,  Namur  Cottage,  Inverness,  in  proposing 
the  toast  of  the  "  Highland  Regiments,"  said — A  dheadh  Phriomh, 
a  Thighearna  Ghearrloch,  a  dhaoine  uaisle  agus  a  bhraithrean, 
chuireadh  mar  iarrtas  ormsa  gu'n  cuirinn  mu  bhur  coinneimh, 
sibh  a  dh'ol  deoch-slainte  nan  Reisimeidean  Gaidhealach.  Tha 
duilichinn  orm  nach  do  thagh  an  Comunn  duine  bu  mhion-eolaiche 
air  doighean  's  air  euchdan  an  airm  na  raise.  Cha  'n  'eil  mi  eolach 
air  geur  lagh  eagnuidh  na  h-armailt,  agus  cha  mho  tha  mi  deas- 
bhriathrach  gu  liomh  mhath  a  chuir  air  eachdraidh  dhaoine  a  choisinn 
meas  's  urram  do  gach  duine  agus  bean  a  bhuineadh  dhoibh  air 


ANNUAL   DINNER."  53 

feadh  an  t-saoghail  gu  leir.     Mur  toilich  na  th'agam  ri  radh  airson 
an  airm  Ghaidhealaich  sibh,  tha  mi  'n  dochas  gu'n  gabh  sibh  an 
toil  an  aite  a'  ghniomh.     Mar  bhoiin  teagasg  their  mi  beagan  mu'n 
Reisimeid   Dhuibh.     Tha   sia  fichead  bliadhna   agus  sia-deug-'ar- 
fhichead  mu  Bhealtuinn  so  chaidh  bho  'n  fhuair  am  Freiceadan 
Dubh  an  t-ainm  Sasunnaeh  ris  an  abair  sinn  a  nise  Reisimeid — 
ged  nach  fhaigheadh  iad  fhathasd  e  bu  beag  an  diobhail.     Bha  iad 
feumail   mar     bha   iad,    agiis    bhitheadh    iad    ro    fheumail    do'n 
Ghaidhealtachd  na'm   bitheadh  iad  air  fuireach  mar  bha  iad  fo'n 
t-seann  ainm,  agus,  anns  an  t-seann  nadur  fad  leth-dusan  bliadhna 
eile.     Ach  bha  iad  a  nise  fo  bhrataich  an  High,  's  cha  robh  an  uine 
fada  an  deigh  sin  gus  an  robh  iad  fo  theine  an  Fhrangaich  ann  am 
Fontenoi  nan  trom-bheum  'us  lotan  basrnhor.    Am  measg  nam  fich- 
eadan  de  mhiltean  saighdear  bha  ann  aig  cath  gailbheach  Fontenoi, 
cha  robh  daoine  idir  ann  a  dhearbh  am  misneach,  an  cruadal,  am 
buadhan  'san  euchdan  coltach  ris  an  Reisimeid  Dhuibh.     lomadh 
uair  fad  an  la  ghearr  iad  beam  'us  bealach  am  broilleach  treun  arm 
ionnsuichte  na  Frainge.     Ach  mar  bha  'n  cruaidh  fhortan  air  an 
"  fheoladair,"  Diuc  Uilleam,  chuir  e  am  Freiceadan  Dubh  car  fada 
air  falbh  a  thilleadh  sgiath  an  airm  Fhrangaich.     Anns  a'  cheart 
am  sin  dh'iarr  an  Seanalair  Frangach  (Saxe)  orra  thogail  air  each, 
'us  iad  ga  ghiubhlan  roimhe  sin  air  cradh-leabaidh.     Bha  fear  air 
gach   taobh  ga   chumail   air   an    each.      Am  priobadh  an   roisg 
chunnaic  an  seann  laoch  gu'n  do  lagaich  Diuc  TJilleam  a  chuid 
airm  leis  mar  sgaoil  e  iad,  ghlaodh  Saxe  air  Morair  Chlair,  'se  siu 
an  ceannard  treun  a  bh'   air  cheann  feachd  Eirinn  san  uair  sin 
fo  lagh  na  Frainge — •"  Ma  bhitheas  sibh  aithghearr  "  thubhairt  Saxe 
"  cuiridh  sibh  an  ruaig  air  an  namhaid  mu'n  tionail  e  chuid  daoine.!1 
Ann  an  tiotadh   bha  na  Frangaich  agus  gach  Albannach  's  gach 
Eirionnach  a  bha  san  uair  sin  fo  bhrataich  Fhrangaich  na'n  cruinn- 
chomhlan  a'  deanamh  direach  air  Diuc  Uilleam.     Thuig  an  Diuc 
gu'm  bitheadh  an  tubaist  air.     Chuir  e  dh'iarraidh  na  Reisimeide 
Duibhe,  ach  chunnaic  e  an  namhaid  a'  tighinn  mar  bheum-sleibhe, 
'us  'nuair  chual  e  seann  iolach  cogaidh  nan  Eirionnach  thar  e  as 
's  dh'  eibh  e  an  t-each  a  b'  astaraiche.     Thachair  an  Diuc  agus  a 
chairdean,  feachd  na  h-Olainte  — 's  ruith  nan  cailleach  leis  a'  bhruth- 
ach  aca — ris  an  Reisimeid  Duibh ;  dh'  iarr  fir  a  bhreacain  air  tilleadh 
air  ais  ris  an  namhad,  ach  's  e  nach  tilleadh.      "  Mur  till  thu  rithisd 
ris  an  namhad  dean  air  do  shocair,"  thuirt  na  fir  ris ;  "  bheir  sinne 
an  aire  ort."    Ghuir  an  Reisimeid  Dhubh  agus  Howard's  Regiment 
an  aghaidh  ris  an  namhaid  'us  bha  gu  leoir  aca  ri  dheanamh  pioc- 
aichean  Eirinn,  beigealaidean  na  Frainge  agus  claidheamhan  nan 


54  TRANSACTIONS. 

Albannach  a  chumail  a  leth  deiridh  an  "  fheoladair "  gus  an 
d'thug  iad  a  cunnard  e.  Sin  agaibh  mar  dhearbh  am  Freiceadan 
Dubh  iad  f  hein  ri  aghaidh  a'  cheud  teine.  Bho  'n  la  sin  gu  la  Choom- 
assie  cha  'n  'eil  ach  an  t-aon  teisteanas  ri  thoirt  orra,  cliu  'us  meas 
dhoibh  fhein  's  gach  aon  a  bhuineadh  dhaibh  agus  mor-onair  dh'  an 
rioghachd  a  db'  araicb  iad.  Tha  naoidh  Reisimeidean  Gaidhealach 
fo  cbrun  Bhreatainn  tha  coig  dbe  na  Reisimeidean  so  ag  caitheamh 
an  fheile-bbig  agus  ceitbir  Reisimeidean  air  aneideadb  le  triubbais. 
Cha'n  'eil  aon  lide  an  letb-fbocail  a  tbuirt  mi  mu'n  Reisinieid 
Dliuibb  nacb  bu  mbiann  leam  uiread  a  cbantuinn  mu  gach  aon 
dhe  na  b-ocbd  Reisimeidean  Gaidbealach  eile.  'S  coir  an  aire 
mbatb  a  tboirt  air  na  tb'againn  de  Reisimeidean  Gaidbealach,  oir  a 
reir  coltais,  cba'n  fliaic  duine  tha  beo  an  diugh  Reisimeid  eile  air  a 
togail  anns  a'  Ghaidhealtachd,  ni's  lugha  na  chuireas  iad  airm  air- 
caoraich,  feidh  'us  gearran.  A  reir  mo  bharail-sa  agus  cho  fad  's 
is  fiosrach  mi  tha  na  Reisimeidean  eile  a  cheart  cho  toilltinneach 
air  an  cliu  agus  air  an  euchdan  innse  ris  an  Reisimeid  Dhuibh. 
Ach  tha  mi  'faicinn  dhaoine  uaisle  mu'n  bhord  so  nacb  tuig  mi, 
a'  gabhail  sgios  dhe  bhi  ag  eisdeachd  na  Gaidhlig.  Cha  'n  e  mo 
choire-sa  nach  tuig  iad  mi.  Bhitheadh  e  cho  farasda  dhaibh-san  a 
Ghaidhlig  ionnsachadh  'sa  bha  e  dhomh-sa  Bheurla  ionnsachadh;  ach 
bheir  mi  mhodh  dhoibh  gu  'n  leig  mi  leo  an  leoir  Beurla  sblugadh 
a  nise. 

"  Lionaibh  suas  gach  cuach  gu  'm  barr, 

Bitheadh  iad  Ian  de'n  deoch  is  fhearr, 

Sguabaibh  as  i  fuar  no  blath, 

Air  deadh  shlainte  arm  an  aigh." 

Na  Reisimeidean  Gaidhealach  ! 

The  toast  having  been  cordially  responded  to,  Captain  MacRa 
Chisholm  of  Glassburn  rose  and  said — Fhir  urramaich  's  fhoghluimte 
a  tha  'sa'  Chathair,  a  Mhaighstir  Siosal,  agus  a  mhuinntir  mo 
chridhe  uile  gu  leir — Tha  mi  'g  eirigh  le  nioran  toil-iniitinn  a  thoirt 
tainge  air  son  na  doigh  dhuineil  thlachdmhoir,  's  an  d'  thug  Mr 
Siosal  dhuinn  Deoch-slainte  nan  Reisemeidean  Gaidhealach,  agus 
air  son  na  doigh  chridheil  shunndaich  leis  an  do  ghabh  sibh  ris  an 
Deoch-slainte  so.  Ach  's  mor  nao  dhiachuinn  nach  'eil  mo  ghreim 
air  a'  Ghaidhlig  ach  lag  's  gur  beag  mo  chleachdadh  air  a  bhi  labh- 
airt  air  beulaobh  Ian  tighe  de  dhaoine-uaisle,  mar  a  th'  againn  an 
so  a  nochd.  Air  an  aobhar  sin,  cha  'n  'eil  e  na  mo  chonias- frea- 
gart  cho  grinn,  glan,  agus  gasda  's  bu  mhath  leam,  agus  a  bhiodh 
freagarrach  air  son  Deoch-slainte  a  tha  cho  measail  aig  Coniunu 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  55 

Gaidhlig  Inbhirnis.  Ach  gabhaibh  mo  leisgeul — bho'n  a  tha  fios 
agaibh  fhein  's  aig  an  t-saoghal  uile,  gun  do  choisinn  na  Reisimeid- 
ean  Gaidhealach  gloir,  cliu  agus  ard-rnholadh  anns  a  h-uile  cogadh, 
bho  Fhontenoi  gu  ruig  Coomassie.  Agus,  an  am  na  sithe,  bha 
iad  ainmeil  air  son  deadh-oijein, — le  bhi  coir,  ciuin,  caoimhneil 
agus  cliuiteach,  na'n  duthaich  fhein,  agus  ann  an  dutchannan  eile. 
Agus,  mar  a  rinn  iad,  ni  iad.  Oir  ma  dh'  eireas  cogadh  a  rithisd, 
eiridh  spiorad  luchd-nam-breacan,  agus  cha  bhi  gaisge  ar  luchd- 
duthcha  air  an  la-an-diugh,  dad  air  dheireadh  air  gaisge  nan  laoch  a 
dh'  fhalbh.  Ach  mo  thruaighe  nach  'eil  riaghladairean  an  airm  a' 
riaghladh  nach  bitheadh  ach  Gaidheil  's  na  Reisimeidean  Gaidh- 
ealach, Sasunnaich  's  na  Reisimeidean  Sasunnach,  agus  Eirion- 
naich  's  na  Reisimeidean  Eirionnach  ;  mar  sin,  bhiodh  neart,  treun- 
tas,  agus  spiorad  gach  saighdeir  air  a  bhrosnachadh  gu  end,  gu. 
ainm,  agus  cliu  a  dhuthcha  fhein  a  chumail  suas.  Ach  a  nis,  tha 
luchd  gach  rioghachd  am  measg  a  cheile,  ann  an  rathad  nach  'eil 
Reisimeid  Ghaidhealach,  Eirionnach,  110  Sasunnach  ann  idir, — 's 
tha  eud,  fein-speis,  spiorad,  agus  cuimhne  gach  duthcha,  air  chall 
air  na  saighdearan  againn.  Bheir  mi  nise,  ma's  e  bhur  toil  treiseag 

bheag  air  a'  Bheurla. Having  said  so  much  in  Gaelic,  I  shall 

now,  with  the  permission  of  our  most  excellent  and  learned  Chief 
and  Chairman,  conclude  in  English.  Thirty-five  years  ago  I  had 
the  honour  of  a  commission  in  the  42d  Royal  Highlanders,  as  a 
reward  for  my  father's  services  at  Waterloo  and  the  capture  of 
Paris.  When  I  joined  the  "  Forty-Twa  " — "  Scotia's  darling  corps  " 
— the  "  Black  Watch"  was  composed  of  real  as  well  as  loyal  High- 
landers. The  officers  were  all  Scotch  except  one,  but  he  was  edu- 
cated at  the  Edinburgh  University.  The  men  were  all  Highland 
or  Scotch  except  one — a  Yorkshire  born  manufacturer — but  he  had 
the  redeeming  name  of  Munro.  Well  do  I  remember  when  the 
first  English  officer  joined  us,  and  the  little  frolic  we  had  after  mess 
transmogrifying  him  into  a  Scotchman.  And  how  do  you  think 
we  managed  it  1  We  made  him  eat  and  swallow  a  live  thistle, 
prickles  and  all,  and  T  must  say  he  performed  the  operation  like  a 
man,  and  washed  it  all  down  with  a  quaich  of  real  mountain  dew. 
We  then  received  him  as  a  brother  Scot.  Is  it  not  a  pity  and  a 
shame,  and  a  great  mistake  that  our  Highland  Regiments  are  not 
kept  exclusively  ffig/Uand,  or  at  least  national.  The  Royal  war- 
rant of  King  George  II.,  issued  for  regimenting  the  Black  Watch 
companies,  contains  the  command  that  "  Recruits  for  the  42d 
Royal  Highlanders  were  always  to  be  raised  in  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland,  the  officers  and  men  to  be  natives  of  that  country,  and 


56  TRANSACTIONS. 

none  other  to  be  taken."  Why,  then,  should  English  or  Irish  be 
taken  into  Highland  Regiments,  and  dressed  up  in  kilts,  dirks,  and 
feather  bonnets  1  Why  should  not  the  true  martial  Highland 
spirit  of  these  regiments  be  left  unalloyed,  instead  of  having  regi- 
ments composed  of  different  nations  mixed  promiscuously  ?  If  we 
are  to  have  Highland  Regiments  why  are  they  not  composed  of 
Highlanders,  men  and  officers  1  men  who  would  understand  the 
notes  of  the  war-pipe,  which  penetrate  the  inmost  fibres  of  the 
heart  and  frame,  and  rivet  the  whole  action  of  the  soul  to  one 
point.  It  is  thus  that  a  charge  to  battle  sounded  in  piobaireachd 
absorbes  all  the  distracting  cares  and  selfish  sensibilities  denomi- 
nated fears,  inflames  the  courage  to  enthusiasm,  and  renders  a  com- 
mon man  a  hero.  (Applause.)  The  sound  of  that  martial  instru- 
ment transports  the  Highlander  with  joy,  in  common  circumstances, 
and  renders  him  insensible  to  danger,  and  invincible  in  the  con- 
flicts of  war.  I  again  thank  you  all  for  having  so  heartily  drank 
to  the  toast  of  the  Highland  Regiments. 

Mr  Macandrew  gave  the  "  Provost,  Magistrates,  and  Town 
Council  of  Inverness."  Referring  to  Macaulay's  statement  that 
Inverness  in  former  times  was  "  a  solitary  outpost  of  civilization  in 
a  region  of  barbarians,"  he  contended  that  this  was  not  the  case, 
and  that  our  ancestors  were  far  from  barbarians. — 

"  I  lately,"  he  said,  "  came  across  a  letter-book  which  belonged 
to  a  Mr  Grant,  a  merchant  who  lived  in  Inverness  in  the  year 
1746.  The  letters  were  addressed  some  to  people  in  Bordeaux, 
others  to  Holland,  and  consisted  of  orders  for  goods  ;  and  in  them 
the  writer  insisted  that  he  would  pay  for  nothing  that  was  not 
thoroughly  good.  His  wine  must  be  of  the  very  best.  Now,  that 
wine  was  intended  for  the  gentlemen  who  lived  in  the  Highlands, 
and  this  circumstance  shows  that  they  were  so  far  civilised  as  to 
know  what  was  good  and  what  was  bad  in  wines.  (Laughter  and 
applause.)  What  I  was  struck  with  chiefly  was  the  order  from  his 
wife,  with  which  he  supplemented  his  own  order  for  goods.  In 
his  wife's  order  there  were  '  two  dozen  finger  glasses,'  and  some 
'  table-napkins  ; '  indicating  that  in  this  burgher's  house  there  was 
some  degree  of  comfort  and  refinement." 

Mr  Macandrew  said  that  in  those  days  Inverness  was  really  the 
capital  of  the  Highlands,  the  centre  of  Highland  life ;  and  he 
thought  it  might  still  be  made  a  place  where  Highland  gentlemen 
would  like  to  reside,  and  to  send  their  sons  for  education. 

Bailie  Davidson  replied  to  the  toast,  observing  that  the  town 
had  recently  spent  £80,000  for  a  -water  and  gas  supply.  Aplenti- 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  57 

ful  supply  of  good  water  had  thus  been  obtained,  which  would 
prove  a  great  benefit  to  the  inhabitants. 

Mr  Murdoch,  of  The  Highlander,  in  proposing  "  Kindred  So- 
cieties," said  that  from  what  he  knew  of  them  it  would  take  him  a 
long  time  to  speak  of  them  in  detail.  He  would  not,  however,  at 
that  late  hour,  even  attempt  to  name  them.  There  were  two 
things  which  he  would  say  of  them,  that  the  societies  which  were 
prospering  were  characterised  by  genuineness  and  usefulness.  Those 
which  were  true  to  themselves,  standing  forward  as  Highlanders 
in  speech  and  sentiment,  were  always  triumphant.  So  were  the 
societies  which  did  not  exist  merely  for  their  own  small  selves  ; 
they  throve  by  the  very  work  of  doing  good  beyond  themselves  ; 
just  as  this  Society  never  was  so  prosperous,  and  never  commanded 
such  respect  as  when  it  was  pressing  the  subject  of  Highland  Edu- 
cation on  the  School  Boards  of  the  Highlands.  If  these  societies 
bore  this  in  mind,  and  acted  accordingly,  there  was  no  danger  of 
Gaelic  dying  in  200  years  or  in  2000  ;  and  we  should  soon  have 
Sir  Kenneth  Mackenzie's  self-evident  ideas  carried  out  in  regard  to 
that  language  in  schools.  If  the  societies  were  true  and  active,  the 
opinion  which  Sir  Kenneth  expressed  so  well,  and  which  we  all 
knew  to  be  the  correct  one,  would  be  the  opinion  of  the  country, 
and  become  the  law  of  the  land.  It  was  no  longer  a  thing  to  be 
argued  with  inspectors  or  schoolmasters ;  it  was  simply  to  assert 
the  conviction  as  that  of  true  men,  and  the  inspectors  and  the 
teachers  would  just  have  to  learn  to  do  what  their  masters  told 
them.  And  so  with  every  other  question.  He  was  to  couple  this 
toast  with  the  name  of  Mr  Ross,  President  of  the  Inverness  Scien- 
tific Society  and  Field  Club,  a  young  society  which  was  not  wasting 
its  time  discussing  such  questions  as  who  was  worse,  the  Miser  or 
the  Spendthrift,  or  who  was  the  greater  general,  Wellington  or 
Napoleon.  It  did  not  look  to  other  men  and  other  lands,  but 
looked  directly  under  our  own  feet  and  around  us  here  for  scienti- 
fic, literary,  and  industrial  resources  ;  and  its  success  had  already 
abundantly  justified  its  wisdom,  and  went  to  supply  one  of  the 
greatest  wants  in  the  locality — an  acquaintance  with  and  reliance 
upon  our  own  resources. 

Mr  A.  Ross,  President  of  the  Inverness  Scientific  Society,  re- 
plied, and  remarked  that  if  some  of  the  archaeological  papers  read 
before  his  Society  were  published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Gaelic 
Society,  they  would  add  much  to  the  interest  of  the  volume. 

Professor  Blackie  then  rising,  declared  that  in  modern  Europe 
there  were  three  despots — the  Roman  Pope,  the  Emperor  of  Russia, 


58  TRANSACTIONS. 

and  a  Highland  Chief — (Laughter) — and  by  his  authority  as  Chief 
he  wiped  out  three  toasts — Non-Resident  Members,  the  Ladies,  and 
the  Press. — 

"  I  wipe  out  the  Ladies  with  the  blood  throbbing  over  every 
inch  of  me—  (Laughter  and  applause) — and  I  wipe  out  the  Press 
because  there  is  a  press  of  business — (Laughter) — and  because  I 
have  a  special  enmity  towards  them  for  the  way  in  which  they 
report  me.  (Laughter  and  applause.)  The  next  toast  is  the 
Croupiers." 

Mr  Stewart — "  Wipe  that  out  too." 

Professor  Blackie — "  No,  I  am  despotic."     (Laughter.) 

Mr  Stewart  — "  Well,  we  humbly  appeal  to  you."     (Laughter.) 

Professor  Blackie  — "  I  am  despotic  ;  there  is  no  appeal."  (Re- 
newed laughter.) 

The  Rev.  Mr  Macgregor  proposed  the  health  of  the  "  Crou- 
piers," which  was  replied  to  by  Mr  Stewart  and  Mr  Innes. 

Rev.  Mr  Maclachlan  then  proposed  "  The  Chief."  He  said — 
Fhir  na  caithreach,  'sa  dhaoin-uaisle — Tha  dleasanas  air  iarraidh 
orm  a  chur  an  guiomh  air  an  fheasgar  so,  tha  gle  dhuilich  a  choimh- 
lionadh  anns  an  doigh  's  am  bu  choir  dhomh  agus  a  bu  mhaith 
learn.  Gun  teagamh  tha  deagh  cheann-teagaisg  agam  :  ach  'si 
bhochduinn  gu  bheil  e  cho  maith  's  gu  bheil  e  cunnartach  gu'm 
mill  mi  e.  Ach  c'ar  son  nach  d'  earb  sibh  e  ri  Alastair  Ruadh  a 
bheireadh  dhuibh  Gaidhlig  ghlan  gu  ceann  seachduin,  na  'n  togradh 
sibh  ?  So  deoch-slainte  Ceann-feadhna  a'  Chomuinn  so,  agus 
ceann-suidhe  na  cuirme — an  t-Ollamh  urramach,  gleusda,  blath- 
chridheach — an  t-Ollamh  Blackie.  Tha  mi  'g  innseadh  dhuibh  gur 
h-i  so  ann  an  aon  seadh  deoch-slainte  shonruichte  an  fheasgair  so ; 
agus  bu  mhiann  learn  labhairt  uimpe  le  teangadh  dhaoine  's  ain- 
geal ;  ach  's  eagal  learn  nach  'eil  mi  ach  mar  umha  ni  fuaim,  no 
mar  chiombal  ni  gleangarsaich.  Cha  'n  aon  duine  cumanta  a  th' 
againn  'sa  chathair  a  nochd.  Dh'fheudainn  labhairt  uime  mar 
Ard-Sgoileir — 

Ard  iulair  na  fileachd  's  gach  seud 
Bh'air  ealaidh  na  Greig  's  na  Roimh, 

Fear  eolais  gach  cainnte  measg  sluaigh 
Sar  thuigsear  gach  buaidh  fo'n  ghrein. 

Ach  b'  fhearr  learn  a  nis  labhairt  uime  mar  charaid  nan  Gaidheal. 
Nach  iongantach  an  ni  e  gur  h-e  Blackie  an  t-ainm  a's  ainmeile  am 
measg  ar  sluaigh  air  an  la  'n  diugh  air  feadh  gharbhlaichean  's  f hir- 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  59 

ichean  na  Gaidhealtachd,  air  feadh  mhachraichean  uaine  agus  bhail- 
tean  mora  na  Galldaclid,  am  measg  shneachdan  Chanada  no  measg 
choiltibh  fasail  America,  New  Zealand,  agus  Australia1?  BheU 
sibh  a'  smaointeacheadh  gur  h-e  duine  suaracb  no  leibideach  a  b' 
urrainn  a  leithid  sin  a  chliu  a  chosnadh  o  cbearn  gu  cearn  de'u 
t-saoghal,  o  eirigh  gu  ruig  luidbe  greine  1  Agus  am  b'e  duine  gun 
bhuaidhean  arda  do'n  tugadh  an  Comunn  uasal  so  an  t-urram  suidhe 
sa'  chaithir  mboir  aig  a'  chuirm  bhHadhnail  so?  Acli  'se  tha 
deanamh  a'  ghnothuich  cho  iongantach  nach  Gaidheal  idir  tha  'san 
neach  tha  mar  so  cho  urramach  arm  an  suilean  gach  Gaidheil  tha 
deigheil  air  a  dhuthaich,  a  chainnt,  agus  na  daoine  o'n  d'  thainig  e. 
Cha'n  fhios  domhsa  gu  bheil  aon  bhoinne  de  dh-fhuil  Ghaidheal- 
aich  a'  ruith  tre  'chuislibh ;  agus  air  an  aobhar  sin  feumaidh  gur 
duine  mor  da  rireadh  e — an  inntinn  agus  cridhe,  mu'n  d'eirich  e 
chum  na  h-inbhe  so  'nar  duthaich.  "  Ciod  e  a  rinn  e,  mata  ? "  tha 
thu  feoraich.  "  Ciod  e  a  rinn  e  1 "  "  Ciod  e  nach  d'  rinn  e  ]  "  tha 
raise  freagairt.  O  cheann  beagan  bhliadhnaichean  bha  Ghaidheal- 
tachd  againn  air  a  dunadh  a  suas  o  choigrich  ;  agus  bha  ar  coiinh- 
earsnaich  'san  taobh  Deas,  an  Sasunn  agus  an  Eirinn  cho  aineolach 
oirnn  fein,  air  ar  duthaich,  agus  air  ar  cleachdainnean,  'sa  bha  iad 
air  Abyssinia,  no  air  bodach  na  gealaich.  'S  ann  a  bha  iad  a' 
smaointeacheadh  gur  h-e  a  bh'  annainn  daoine  fiadhaich,  a'  ruith 
ruisgte,  no  le  badan  bochd  crioslaichte  mu  ar  leth-deiridh,  agus  air 
ar  comhdachadh  le  fionnadh  tiugh  mar  ghabhar  nan  creag  no  mar 
dhamh  dearg  an  fhrith.  Ach  dh'  eirich  duine  ainmeil  a  suas  ris  an 
abair  iad  an  Ridire  Walter  Scott,  agus  le  pheann  finealta,  eas- 
guidh,  sgaoil  e  an  sgleo  bha  cuairteachadh  na  Gaidhealtachd  agus 
air  an  la  'n  diugh  chi  thu  teachd"  do'r  duthaich,  luchd-cuairt  o  gach 
tirfo'nghrein — Sasunnaich  chaola,  chruaidhe;  Americanaich  ladarna; 
Eirionnaich  dheaschainnteach,  's  gach  seorsa  beathaich  a  shiolaich 
o'r  ceud  pharatan.  Thubhairt  an  Scotach  riu  : — 

"  An  t-oigh  leak  na  beanntan  mor, 
Cruachan  's  na  neoil  gu  h-ard  ; 
Coireachan,  frithean,  dachaigh  an  fhireoin 
'S  an  cluinnear  na  h-easan  a'  gair  ? 

Far  am  faic  thu  an  ceathach  a'  snamh, 
'Sa'  lubadh  mu  shlios  nan  cruach, 
'Sa  ghnath  na  m'  aire  bhiodh  fonn  na  mara 
Ga  m'  thaladh  gu  foisneach  gu  suainn." 


60  TRANSACTIONS. 

Ach  ged  a  rinn  Scot  ar  tir  ainmeil,  gu  de  am  feum  a  tha  an  luchd- 
turais  so  a'  deanamh  do'r  duthaich  ?  Tha  iad  a'  fagail  an  airgiod  'a 
na  tighean-osda ;  agus  gun  tamh  ri  falbhanachd  o  aite  gu  aite  mar 
chirc  ag  iarraidh  nid,  a'  siubhal  's  a'  rannsacheadh  gach  sgriodain, 
gach  sgairnich,  's  gach  oisinn.  Cuid  diu  le  ord  beag  ladhrach 
a'  sgealpadh  criomanan  as  gach  creig  is  cloich.  Ach  tha  na  daoine 
so  falbh  direach  mar  a  thainig  iad  gun  suim  no  speis  a  ghabhail 
do'n  luchd-aiteachaidh,  no  do'n  cainnt.  An  sin  dh'eirch  neach  eile 
rinn  obair  cho  maith  ris  an  Ridire  a  dh'  ainmich  mi,  a  thug  air 
coigrich  amharc,  cha'u  ann  a  mhain  air  ar  beanntan  's  ar  gleanntan, 
air  ar  'n  uillt,  's  ar  cuain,  ach  air  na  Gaidheil  fein  mar  bhraithrean 
's  mar  pheathraichean ;  mar  dhaoine  treuna  agus  calma ;  mar 
dhaoine  dligheach  cairdeil.  Agus  thug  e  orra  amharc  mar  an 
ceudna  air  an  cainnt  mar  chainnt  bhuadhmhoir,  bhoidhich,  mhilis  a' 
sruthadh  mar  chir  mheala  o  theangaibh  ar  baird  agus  ar  sluaigh. 
Co  an  duine  rinn  so  1  Sin  agaibh  e  shuas  air  ceann  na  cuirme.  Nach 
'eil  e  air  miltean  punnd  Sasunnach  a  chruinneachadh  chum  caithir 
Ghaidhlig  a  steidheacheadh  ann  an  Oil-thigh  Dhuneideann  agus  tha 
dochas  againn  gu'm  bi  an  sgillinn  ruadh  mu  dheireadh  fo  ghlais  am 
poca  a  bhriogais  mu'n  tig  an  t-am  so  'n  ath-bhliadhna,  's  gun  tig 
gu  luath  Linn  an  Aigh  ruu  bheil  am  bard  a'  labhairt : — 

"  '  Nuair  bha  Ghaidhlig  aig  na  h-eoin,' 
Bha'n  bainne  air  an  Ion  mar  dhriuchd, 
A  mhil  a'  fas  air  barr  an  fhraoich, 
A  h-uile  ni  cho  saor  's  am  burn." 

Gus  an  d'  thainig  ar  Ceann-feadhna  bha  na  Gaidheil  mur  gum  b'  ann 
'nan  suidhe  laimh  ri  aimhnichibh  Bhabiloin,  an  clarsaichean 
crochte  air  na  crannaibh  seilich,  a'  gul  'nuair  a  chuimhnich  iad  air 
tir  an  cridhe,  tir  an  eolais,  tir  an  oige.  Ach  thainig  Blackie  agus 
ghabh  e  a  chlarsach  na  'laimh,  ruith  e  a  mheoir  thairis  air  a  teudan, 
dhuisg  e  gradh  do'n  na  h-eilthirich,  ann  an  cridhe  na  rioghachd — 
agus  ma  dh'  fheudte  gum  faic  sinn  fhathast  ann  an  aite  na  luachaire 
caoil,  na  coinnich  uaine,  agus  na  h-eanntaig  glais,  tighean  nan 
daoine  coir  ag  eirigh,  agus  an  ciobair  stiallach  Gallda  toirt  an  tighe 
air  do'n  duthaich  as  an  d'  thainig  e.  Mile  beannachd  leis  !  An  sin  chi 
sinn  na  glinn  mar  a  b'  abhaist : — 

"  'S  gum  b'  iad  sud  glinn  an  orain, 
Glinn  an  ime,  glinn  a'  bhainne, 
Glinn  chruidh-laoigh  air  airidh  bharraich, 
Far  am  bi  'n  damh  dearg  a'  langan." 


ANNUAL    DINNER.  61 

S  ma  tha  aon  neach  beo  bheir  mu'n  cuairt  e  se  'n  t-Ollamh  Blackie. 
Ach  a  nis  cha'n  fhaod  mi  bhi  gar  cumail  ni's  fhaide.  Ach  mu'n 
suidh  mi  dh'  iarrainn  oirbh  amhai'c  air  an  duin-uasal — air  aghaidh 
fhlathail,  gheir,  ghloin,  agus  fhalt  liath  ceallach  a'  tuiteam  o 
cheann.  Cha  'n  urrainn  domh  gun  chuimhneachadh  air  briath- 
ran  a'  bhaird,  ged  a's  arm  mu  mhnaoi  a  labhair  e  : — 

"  Gur  gile  mo  leannan  na'n  eal'  air  an  t-snamh, 

No  cobhar  na  tuinne  's  i  tilleadh  bho'n  traigh, 

No  blath-bhainne-buaile  's  a'  chuach  leis  fo  bharr, 

No  sneachd  nan  gleann  dosrach  ga  fhroiseadh  mu'n  lar." 

Ged  tha  cheann  cho  geal  tha  chridhe  eutrom,  og  fathast,  's  tha  'n 
duanag  gu  trie  ri  cluinntinn  o  bheul.  Dh'  eadar-theangaich  e  'n 
la  roimhe  cuid  de  dh-orain  ar  sluaigh,  agus  feudadh  mi  radh  mu 
thimchioll  a  rithistann  am  briathar  Smeorach  Chlann  Lachuinn: — 

"  Tha'n  uiseag  's  an  smeoraeh  feadh  lointean  nan  driuchd 
Toirt  failte  le'n  orain  do'n  og-mhaduinn  chiuin, 
Ach  tha'n  uiseag  neo-sheolta  's  an  smeoraeh  gun  sunnd 
'Nuair  'thoisicheas  m'eudail  air  gleusadh  a  ciuil." 

Do  chuid  de  dhaoin'  ainmeil  tha  daoine  togail  carragh-cuimhne  ; 
tha  cuid  eile  a'  togail  carragh-cuimhne  dhoibh  fein  le'n  sgriobhaidh- 
nean  ;  mar  a  thubhairt  am  bard  Romanach  "  Exegi  monumentum 
aere  perennius,  &c."  Ach  mairidh  an  t-Ollamh  Blackie  beo  gun 
charragh-cuimhne  cloiche,  ann  an  oisinn  bhlath  ann  an  cridhe  gach 
fior  Ghaidheil.  Gu  ma  fada  beo  e,  agus  ceo  as  a  thigh.  Agus 
'nuair  a  dh'  fhagas  e  sinn,  co  againn  nach  cuireadh  clach  na  'charn  1 
A  dhaoin-uaisle,  lionaibh  ar  cuachan  gu'm  barr,  agus  sguabaibh  as 
gu'n  grunnd  iad,  ag  ol  deoch-slainte  an  fhior  dhuin-uasail,  an  t-sar 
Sgoileir,  agus  Caraid  nan  Gaidheal,  an  t-Ollamh  Blackie. 

The  toast  was  enthusiastically  drunk,  and 

Professor  Blackie,  in  replying,  said — Men  and  brethren,  as  Saint 
Paul  says — (Laughter) — I  am  seriously  reminded  of  the  saying, 
"  Woe  unto  you  when  all  men  speak  well  of  you."  (Laughter.) 
But  perhaps  the  woe  does  not  apply,  for  men  have  not  always 
spoken  well  of  me.  I  thank  you  for  your  reception  of  this  toast, 
and  I  have  also  to  thank  the  gentleman  who  proposed  it,  for  having 
spoken  in  Gaelic.  For  although  I  followed  almost  every  sentence, 
I  did  not — perhaps  because  it  was  after  twelve  o'clock  at  night — 
comprehend  fully  what  he  said.  (Laughter.)  I  got  only  occasional 


62  TRANSACTIONS. 

glimpses,  and  therefore  I  have  to  thank  him,  for  he  saved  me  from 
blushing.  (Laughter.)  I  have  to  make  one  remark,  however.  I 
did  not  wish  to  have  this  affair  of  the  Celtic  Chair  put  on  my 
shoulders.  I  accepted  it  only  because  there  was  no  other  person 
that  would  take  it  up ;  I  accepted  it,  too,  because  I  considered  it 
would  be  cowardly  and  mean-spirited  if,  when  such  a  thing  was 
conceived  in  connection  with  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  every- 
thing possible  were  not  done  for  its  realisation.  (Applause.)  I 
accepted  it  because,  in  these  circumstances,  it  was  my  duty — (Ap- 
plause)— and  I  confess  that  I  had  not  otherwise  the  slighest  desire 
to  be  encumbered  with  this  business.  I  have  since  found  that,  if 
you  do  the  work  which  God  gives  you  to  do,  you  will  find  that 
your  pain  becomes  changed  into  pleasure — (Applause) — and  your 
labour  becomes  a  triumph.  (Renewed  applause.)  Do  what  God 
sends  you  to  do.  This  is  the  maxim  that  has  carried  me  through 
life.  I  thought  I  heard  Mr  Maclachlan  use  the  words  of  the  bard, 
Ewen  Maclachlan — 

"  Gur  gile  mo  leannan, 

Na  'n  eal'  air  an  t-snamh  ;  " 

and  I  thought  they  referred  to  these  beautiful  white  hairs  of  mine, 
in  which  I  take  some  pride — (Appl-mse) — for  I  think  there  is  a 
beauty  in  them.  (Applause.)  Well,  the  way  to  get  through  life, 
to  the  attainment  of  such  locks,  is  not  to  choose  your  lot,  but  to 
show  by  your  actions  that  it  is  right  to  do  what  you  are  called  upon 
to  do.  (Cheers.)  Do  it  rightly,  and  do  it  pleasantly,  and  good 
will  certainly  come.  (Applause.)  Do  it  thoroughly — not  by 
halves,  for  no  good  can  come  of  that — do  it  altogether.  (Applause.) 
This  is  the  spirit  in  which  I  took  this  work  in  hand,  and  though 
the  labour  of  the  Celtic  Chair  has  taken  up  much  of  my  time,  and 
has  prevented  the  publication  of  some  of  the  most  splendid  books 
ever  written — (Laughter  and  applause) — it  has  brought  me  up  to 
those  Celtic  regions  in  which  I  had  no  proper  business  to  be,  and 
which  I  now  love  so  well.  (Applause.)  One  benefit  which  I  have 
gained — a  benefit  which  I  prize  more  than  all  the  Greek  and  Latin 
I  ever  learned — is  that  my  labours  have  made  me  acquainted  with 
my  own  country — (Applause) — and  with  the  very  best  men  in  my 
own  country.  (Renewed  applause.)  Aristotle  says — and  it  is 
always  right  to  accept  Aristotle,  contradict  Blackie  and  The  High- 
lander as  you  like.  (Laughter.)  Blackie  may  be  despotic — 
(Laughter) — but  he  may  be  contradicted ;  but  contradict  Aristotle, 
and  there  is  no  hope  for  you.  (Applause  and  laughter  )  Well,  he 


THE   AUTHENTICITY    OF   OSSIAN.  63 

divides  all  men  into  two  classes — those  who  are  given  to  giving, 
and  those  who  are  given  to  getting.  You  well  know  that  the  ma- 
jority are  more  given  to  getting — (Laughter) — but  the  minority  are 
generally  better  and  nobler ;  and  in  good  and  noble  matters — in 
lofty  ideals — in  right  conduct — the  minority  are  always  in  the 
right  and  the  majority  in  the  wrong.  That  is  Aristotle  and  Gospel, 
and  contradict  these  two  if  you  dare.  (Applause  and  laughter.) 
In  this  mission  I  and  you  were  long  in  a  minority,  but  we  pressed 
on,  and  proved  triumphantly  that  we  were  in  the  right*  (Applause.) 
And  1  have  at  last  got  an  immense  amount  of  cash  which  I  value 
much,  and  an  immense  amount  of  love  which  I  value  more.  (Loud 
applause.) 

As  the  Professor  spoke  he  turned  and  threw  his  arms  round 
Sir  Kenneth  Mackenzie,  giving  him  a  hearty  embrace.  This  action 
was  received  with  loud  cheering  and  laughter,  and  when  the  enthu- 
siasm had  subsided,  the  Professor  gave  good-night,  and  the  proceed- 
ings came  to  an  end.  During  the  evening,  it  should  be  mentioned, 
Pipe-Major  Maclennan,  the  Society's  piper,  was  in  attendance,  and 
played  selections  of  Highland  music  on  the  great  Highland  bagpipe. 

The  proceedings,  which  were  throughout  most  successful,  came 
to  a  conclusion  about  one  o'clock. 

18iH  JANUARY,  1877. 

The  following  new  members  were  elected  at  this  meeting,  viz.  : — 
Messrs  John  H.  Forsyth,  Inglis  Street,  Inverness  ;  William  Gunn, 
draper,  do. ;  Rev.  John  Macpherson,  Lairg ;  James  Melven,  book- 
seller, Inverness  ;  D.  Middleton,  coal  merchant,  do.  ;  ^Eneas  Eraser, 
writer,  Church  Street,  do. ;  and  Simon  Finlayson,  1  Jamaica  Street, 
Glasgow. 

Thereafter  office-bearers  for  the  ensuing  year  were  nominated. 

DR  HATELY  WADDELL  ON  THE  AUTHENTICITY 
OF  OSSIAN.  . 

On  Wednesday  evening,  January  24,  the  Rev.  Dr  Hately 
Waddell,  of  Glasgow — well-known  as  the  editor  and  biographer  of 
Burns,  and  more  recently  as  the  author  of  "  Ossian  and  the  Clyde  " 
— delivered  a  lecture  on  Ossian  in  the  Music  Hall,  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  Society — Provost  Simpson  presiding. 

Dr  Waddell,  on  rising,  was  received  with  applause,  and  in  pro- 
ceeding to  the  discussion  of  his  interesting  theme,  said — It  may 


64  TRANSACTIONS. 

seem  hardly  necessary  to  inform  the  audience  that  the  object  of  the 
present  lecture  is  to  vindicate  the  authenticity  of  Ossian  as  repre- 
sented in  Macphei*son's  translation ;  but  the  lecturer,  being  by 
birth  and  education  a  Lowlander,  does  not  presume  in  any  way 
either  to  criticise  or  to  explain  the  original  Gaelic  edition  of  1807. 
He  wishes  this  to  be  distinctly  understood  ;  and  shall  confine  him- 
self exclusively  to  the  defence  and  illustration  of  the  magnificent 
works  known  by  the  name  of  Ossian,  as  they  appeared  in  Mac- 
pherson's  hands.  In  prosecuting  this  subject,  we  shall  have  to  in- 
quire in  the  farst  place  as  to  the  credibility  of  Macpherson's  own 
claim  as  the  avowed  translator ;  in  the  second,  as  to  the  possibility 
of  his  having  fabricated  such  poems  as  Fingal  and  Temora,  from 
certain  alleged  originals  among  Irish  mediaeval  ballads ;  and,  in 
conclusion,  to  present  a  sort  of  summary,  or  brief  critical  estimate, 
of  the  most  important,  intellectual,  and  moral  characteristics  of 
Ossian,  as  he  appears  in  the  translation — than  which  characteris- 
tics, in  the  lecturer's  opinion,  nothing  truer  or  sublimer ;  at  once 
more  natural  or  wonderful,  is  anywhere  to  be  found  in  the  whole 
range  of  Epic  literature,  since  the  days  of  Moses  and  Homer. 

I.    MACPHERSON'S   CLAIMS. 

According  to  this  arrangement,  then,  it  is  with  Macpherson  him- 
self, in  the  first  place,  we  are  chiefly  concerned  ;  with  the  possibility 
or  impossibility  of  his  having  been  the  actual  author  of  these  magni- 
ficent poems ;  and  the  first  most  obvious  question,  in  this  long- 
vexed  argument,  is  as  to  the  moral  character  of  the  man  himself. 
Had  anything  been  proved  against  him  to  invalidate  his  own  de- 
claration that  the  poems  of  Ossian  were  translated  by  him  from  an 
original,  or  rather  from  several  originals,  in  the  Scottish  Gaelic 
language,  in  his  hands  ?  Was  he  previously  known  to  be  a  liar  1 
Had  he  ever  been  guilty  of  fraud  ?  Had  he  ever  done  anything 
dishonest  ?  Had  he  ever  imposed  upon  his  friends,  upon  his  patrons, 
upon  the  public  ?  Had  he  done  anything  of  a  sort  to  forfeit  his 
claims  to  their  confidence,  or  to  destroy  his  claims  to  respect  and 
honour  as  a  student  of  divinity,  and  an  aspirant  to  the  functions 
of  the  Church  ?  Nothing  we  know,  or  ever  heard  of.  His  worst 
crime  was  poverty,  and  one  of  the  most  honourable  actions  of  his 
life  was  to  requite  in  old  age,  by  the  offer  of  payment  an  hundred 
fold,  the  unknown  obligations  of  friendship  that  had  been  conferred 
upon  him  in  his  youth.  Why,  then,  should  this  man  be  suspected 
or  accused  of  a  long,  intricate,  and  difficult  series  of  unblushing  im- 


THE   AUTHENTICITY   OF  OSSIAN.  65 

postures  on  the  world  before  the  age  of  twenty-four  ?  Because  Le 
•was  ambitioxis  ?  But  he  was  not  more  ambitious  than  Burke  or 
Canning,  Brougham  or  Disraeli — who  have  never  been  accused  of 
literary  fraud  or  falsehood.  Because  other  young  men,  like  Chatter- 
ton  for  example,  have  made  attempts  of  the  kind  to  impose  upon 
the  public  1  But  Chatterton,  at  that  date,  was  only  a  child.  He 
might  afterwards,  indeed,  have  emulated  Macpherson,  but  Mac- 
pherson  could  not  possibly  have  emulated  him.  Besides,  the  very 
essence  of  Chatterton's  imposture  was  the  production  of  forged  docu- 
ments, whereas,  the  most  serious  charge  against  Macpherson  was 
that  he  did  not  produce  a  document  at  all.  Is  it  because  in  earlier 
youth  he  had  attempted  poetry  of  his  own  ?  Then  the  sort  of 
poetry  he  so  attempted  affords  the  most  conclusive  evidence  that  he 
could  never  have  been  the  author  of  what  subsequently  appeared. 
Is  it  because  he  afterwards  enjoyed  political  patronage,  and  ob- 
tained a  Government  appointment,  where  he  accumulated  a  fortune  ? 
In  this  he  was  no  worse  than  any  other  political  aspirant  of  his 
day  ;  but  even  if  he  had  been.  Ossian  was  published  long  before.  Is 
it  because  he  threatened  retaliation  by  violence,  when  he  was  de- 
nounced as  a  ruffian  and  a  cheat  1  Any  man  of  spirit  in  the  cir- 
cumstances, much  more  any  Highland  man,  would  have  done  the 
same.  (Applause.)  Is  it  because  he  refused  to  produce  his  MS. 
when  demanded  1  That  question  comes  nearer  to  the  point.  But 
he  did  produce  it,  and  left  it  with  his  publishers  for  a  twelvemonth 
to  be  inspected  by  his  accusers,  who  had  neither  the  courtesy, 
courage,  or  common  sense  to  look  at  it.  Is  it  because  Johnson  de- 
nounced him  for  a  cheat  and  a  ruffian  ?  Pinkerton  for  a  gifted 
fabulist  ?  Laing  for  a  cunning  plagiarist  1  and  Campbell,  of  Islay, 
for  a  magnificent  myth  ]  The  reply  is  easy.  Johnson  in  this,  as 
in  many  other  matters,  was  a  prej  udiced  dogmatical  boor ;  Pinker- 
ton  himself  was  a  convicted  fabulist ;  Laing  was  a  worshipper  of 
Parliament  House,  and  bound  to  display  his  own  learning ;  Camp 
bell,  of  Islay,  is  a  modern  rival  collector  in  another  field,  and  does 
not  choose  thoroughly  to  examine  the  subject.  And  is  James 
Macpherson  to  be  eternally  defamed  with  fraud  and  forgery,  be- 
cause lexicographers  and  critics  who  did  not  understand  tte  sub- 
ject, and  will  not  so  much  as  condescend  to  look  at  it,  persist  in  so 
defaming  him  1  It  seems  incredible  as  a  mere  question  of  honour, 
of  honesty,  of  common  sense  ;  much  more  incredible  as  a  question 
of  fact,  when  the  issues  which  depend  upon  it  are  considered. 
Undsr  the  same  head,  Dr  "Waddell  further  inquired,  why  then 
should  these  extraordinary  productions  be  looked  upon  as  frauds, 


6(J  TRANSACTIONS.  • 

if  there  was  nothing  iu  the  translator's  previous  life  to  suggest  it  ? 
Because  the  style  was  too  lofty  1  the  characters  too  grand  ?  the 
events  too  wonderful  ?  the  morals  too  pure  ]  the  history  too  sublime  1 
the  achievements  too  heroic  ?  the  incidents  too  romantic  1  the  senti- 
ments too  tender  ?  the  pathos  too  touching  1  the  pictures  of  life  too 
splendid  1  the  revelations  of  humanity  too  profound  1  For  what  ? 
for  whom  1  for  when  1  For  types  of  a  race  that  defied  and  defeated 
the  Romans  1  For  a  poet  who  spoke  with  authority  in  the  ear  of 
kings  ?  For  a  period  of  transition  between  native  civilisation  on 
the  brink  of  ruin,  and  foreign  civilisation  itself  on  the  verge  of 
decay  1  Between  the  opposite  extremes  and  representatives  of  two 
antagonistic  worlds  ?  Too  lofty,  grand,  wonderful,  and  pure  ?  too 
sublime,  too  heroic,  too  romantic,  too  tender,  too  touching,  too 
splendid,  too  profound  ? — for  an  era  like  this,  and  for  men  like 
these  1  Yet  not  too  lofty,  grand,  wonderful,  pure,  sublime,  heroic, 
romantic,  tender,  touching,  splendid,  or  profound  for  a  young,  half- 
educated,  unsuccessful  student  of  divinity — who  must  have  been  a 
liar  and  a  thief,  a  beggar  and  a  cheat,  a  hardened  rogue  and  a 
brazen  impostor,  from  the  age  of  eighteen  till  the  end  of  his  life  ; 
who  must  not  only  have  concocted  and  composed  the  whole  of  it 
in  fragments,  and  interwoven,  dovetailed,  and  jointed  it  together 
by  mere  words  and  syllables  not  hitherto  detected  for  a  hundred 
years,  and  apparently  not  known  to  himself;  who  must  have  bor- 
rowed his  style  by  assiduous  labour,  according  to  Laing,  from  88 
different  authors,  and  manufactured  22  epic  poems  out  of  966  words 
or  phrases — certain  of  these  poems  containing  3,  6,  and  8  books ; 
and  who  finally  located  his  heroes  and  localised  his  scenes,  on  this 
hap-hazard  process,  so  exactly,  that  the  very  footsteps  of  the  one 
and  the  outlines  of  the  other  may  be  traced  and  identified  at  this 
hour,  scores  and  hundreds  of  miles  distant  from  the  regions  and 
localities  where  this  youthful,  imaginative,  unprincipled,  unscrupu- 
lous, half-educated,  and  practically  ignorant  impostor  fancied  them  ; 
who  did  not  know  the  rocks,  the  rivers,  or  the  mountains,  the  lakes 
or  seas,  the  islands  or  the  continents,  the  regions  or  the  airts,  the 
very  points  of  the  compass,  to  which  his  own  supposed  forgeries  re- 
lated !  The  supposition  is  impossible,  incredible,  absurd — (Cheers) 
— impossible  alike  in  fancy  or  in  philosophy,  in  forgery  or  in  fate. 
Such  a  concurrence  of  falsehood  with  fact,  beyond  the  knowledge 
of  the  liar  himself,  is  inconceivable.  No  necromancer  on  earth 
could  have  accomplished  it  •  much  less  a  poor  student  of  divinity, 
who  had  failed  for  the  Church  and  had  failed  in  the  press  ;  who  had 
published  poems  of  his  own  before,  which  nobody  but  his  enemies 


THE   AUTHENTICITY   OF    OSSIAtf.  67 

remembered,  and  a  translation  of  Homer  afterwards  which  covered 
himself  with  ridicule.  Yet  this  is  the  alternative  which  his  accus- 
ers must  adopt,  rather  than  believe  that  Ullin  was  Ulster ;  that 
Inisthona  was  Iceland ;  that  the  Carun  was  the  Carron ;  that  the 
Clutha  was  the  Clyde  ;  that  the  kings  of  the  world  were  the  Ro- 
mans ;  that  Fingal  lived,  and  that  Ossian  sang,  fifteen  hundred 
years  ago ;  that  there  was  a  poet  then  and  there,  as  well  as  in 
Greece  or  in  Italy,  capable  of  representing  humanity  ! 

II.  MACPHERSON'S  ALLEGED  RESOURCES. 

Having  thus,  in  general  terms,  and  from  all  reasonable  ordinary 
points  of  view,  considered  the  credibility  of  Macpherson's  own 
claims,  we  are  bound,  in  farther  prosecution  of  the  subject,  to  con- 
sider also  the  character  and  extent  of  his  alleged  resources ;  and 
whether  it  was  possible  that  from,  these — such  as  they  are  said  to 
have  been — anything  like  the  poems  of  Ossian  could  ever  be  con- 
structed. Honest  or  dishonest,  gifted  or  not  gifted  in  himself — did 
materials  known  to  Macpherson  anywhere  exist,  from  which  Fingal, 
Temora,  and  the  other  poems  ascribed  to  Ossian,  could  by  human 
possibility — by  any  imaginable  process  of  human  invention,  have 
been  fabricated  ?  This  department  of  our  inquiry,  it  is  obvious, 
will  include  much  beyond  the  mere  theft  of  appropriate  language 
from  distinguished  authors,  or  even  of  figures  and  filling-up  pre- 
supposed. Some  theme  on  which  the  language  was  to  be  employed  ; 
some  frame-work,  like  a  web,  into  which  the  figures  were  to  be 
woven ;  some  outline,  on  which  the  filling-up  was  to  be  done — 
these  must  also  be  discovered  or  alleged,  before  the  possibility  of 
such  forgeries  can  be  admitted.  Fine  words  and  phrases,  magnifi- 
cent figures  of  speech,  and  a  redundant  style,  might  have  been 
adopted  at  random  from  a  vanety  of  authoi's — from  Moses,  for  ex- 
ample, or  from  David ;  from  Homer  and  Virgil ;  from  Shakespeare 
and  Milton  ;  from  Pope  and  Dryden ;  from  Gray  and  Thomson — as 
Laing  alleges,  and  has  tried  to  prove ;  but  how  were  they  to  be 
employed  ?  "  Many  words,"  however  fine,  "  will  not  fill  a  bushel :  " 
but  where  is  the  bushel  itself  they  were  to  fill  ]  Even  horses  and 
chariots,  shields  and  helmets,  swords  and  spears,  might  have  been 
borrowed  from  the  Romans  in  the  process  of  translation  ;  but  how 
were  they  to  be  introduced  1  All  varieties  of  national  character 
and  costume,  of  national  virtues  and  vices,  of  incidents,  accidents, 
and  events,  might  be  collected  and  arranged  with  time  and  patience ; 
but  where  or  when  1  At  home  or  abroad  ]  by  sea  or  by  land  1  in 

•  9 


68  TRANSACTIONS. 

Scotland,  Ireland,  or  Iceland  1     At  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era,  or  in  the  middle,  or  towards  the  end  of  it  ]     In  the  days  of 
Caractacus    or   of   King   George  ?     All    this   requires  now  to  be 
settled  ;  and  the  ground- work  of  these  magnificent  so-called  fabrica- 
tions— the  web  of  lies,  and  the  outline  of  forgeries — his  adversaries 
exclaim,  were  the  mediaeval  traditions  of  Ireland.     Scholar,  anti- 
quarian, and   collector ;   critic  and   philologist  alike — who  believe 
not  in  fact,  but  rely  wholly  on  conjecture — exclaim,  The  mediaeval 
traditions    of  Ireland  !     To    the  mediaeval  traditions  of  Ireland, 
then,  let  us  turn;  and  the  only  additional  remarks  on  the  use  of 
language,  &c.,  we  have  now  to  make,  before  doing  so,  are  as  fol- 
lows : — (1)  That,  when  it  suits 'their  own  purpose,  this  very  lan- 
guage of  Ossian,  so  sublime  and  beautiful,  and  said  to  have  been 
stolen  from  the  most  gifted  authors  in  the  world,  is  described  by 
the  same  objectors  as  intolerable  bombast,  or  monotonous  moaning  ; 
and  (2),  that  although  Grethejs  Faust,  the  most  wonderful  work  of 
a  century,  in  Europe,  occupied  its  illustrious  author  from  the  age 
of  twenty-one  till  the  age  of  eighty-two — that  is,  sixty-one  years  in 
composition,  the  Poems   of  Ossian,  the  most  wonderful  work  of 
their  sort  in  the  world,  are  supposed  to  have  been  not  only  con- 
cocted out  of  words  and  phrases  in  English,  but  translated  out  of 
English  into  Gaelic  by  Macpherson,  beginning .  at  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen, or  thereby,  in  less  than  ten  •,  years.    ;  (3)  As  for  the  figures  and 
filling-up— such  as  horses  and  r  chariots,-,  shields,  helmets,  swords 
and  spears,  &c.,  &c.  — as  represented  in  .Ossian,  there  was  no  need 
to  borrow  them  from  any  one.  at  the  date  in. question.     We  know 
from  the  Romans  themselves,' and  from,  the ,  oldest  authorities  in 
Great  Britain — which 'are  Accessible  to  everybody — that  such  war- 
like accoutrements,  of  a  very  formidable  description,  were  in  pos- 
session of  the  Caledonians  ;  and  must  therefore  have  been  known 
to  Ossian  if  he  ever  lived,  as  well  as  to  the  Romans,  or  to  any  an- 
tiquarian now  living ;  and  if  Ossian's  reputed  heroes  had  been  re- 
presented without  something  of  the  kind,  the  representation  would 
have  been  false — and  what  is  more,  the  deficiency  would  have  been 
insisted  on  as  a  blemish,  by  the  very  critics  who  now  object  to  the 
fact.     Everything   is    now   too  minute   and   splendid,  for  savage 
kings  and  Celtic  warriors — it  cannot  be  believed  ;  yet  if  a  single 
point  had  been  omitted,  or  a  detail  overlooked,  it  would  have  been 
a  blunder  on  the  one  hand,  or  a  proof  of  falsehood  on  the  other. 
The    details   are    wonderful,    no    doubt,    and  the  equipments  are 
splendid  ;  but  it  is  only  on  princes  they  are   conferred ;   the  rank 
and  file  have  no  such  advantages.     Besides,  it  is  the  eye  of  a  poet 


THE    AUTHENTICITY    OF    OSSIAN.  69 

which  sees,  and  the  son  of  a  king  who  describes  them.  They  were 
all  wonderful  and  glorious  to  him,  and  he  so  represents  them — as 
a  young  exultant  warrior  bard,  himself  a  principal  actor,  might  be 
expected  to  do  ;  whereas,  a  mere  student  of  antiquities,  who  was 
conscious  of  fabrication  at  the  moment,  would  have  hesitated  ; 
•would  have  misplaced  such  properties,  or  apologised  for  their  ap- 
pearance ;  would  have  compromised  or  betrayed  himself  in  every 
word  of  his  dishonest  description  ;  and  would  have  been  either 
challenged  or  condemned  accordingly.  We  might  as  well  object 
to  the  truth  or  the  authenticity  of  Babylonian  or  Egyptian  master- 
pieces of  decorative  art,  in  pyramids  and  temples,  because  they  re- 
present kings  and  heroes  going  out  to  the  chase  in  full  dress, 
or  so  accoutred,  at  least,  as  no  modern  huntsman  would  ever 
think  of — transfixing  lions  with  arrows  like  boat  hooks,  and  display- 
ing their  own  ambrosial  beards  and  plaited  locks  as  smooth  and 
trim  in  the  conflict,  as  if  rampant  lions  were  flies  on  a  window- 
pane,  and  barbed  spears  were  bodkins  or  darning  needles.  How- 
ever grotesque  such  representations  may  now  seem  to  us,  they  are 
nevertheless  genuine,  and  such  as  the  favoured  artist  knew  would 
be  agreeable  to  his  demigod  the  tyrant ;  and  no  man  now  desiring 
to  represent  such  scenes  or  subjects,  would  ever  think  of  departing 
from  them.  In  comparison  with  such  repi  esentations,  the  word  paint- 
ing of  Ossian,  although  a  little  poetically  exaggerated,  as  the  case 
required,  is  like  nature  itself '  in  truthfulness  and  beauty ;  yet  all 
the  thanks  the  translator  receives  for  reproducing  it  as  it  was — is 
that  he  was  a  blundering  liar,  who  overcrowded  the  subject  with 
ornaments,  and  overloaded  the  actors  with  leather  and  steel  ! 

And  now— I.  As  for  the  Irish  traditions,  in  mediaeval  ballads 
and  romances,  so  much,  and  so  constantly  relied  upon,  fully  to  un- 
derstand the  absurdity  of  believing  that  Macpherson  could  have 
concocted  such  poems  as  Fingal  and  Temora  out  of  these,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  have  the  ballads  themselves  before  us.  Does  any 
one  now  present  (said  the  reverend  lecturer)  happen  to  be  ac- 
quainted with  them  1  Then  it  will  be  needless  for  me  to  explain 
to  such  a  hearer  the  outrageous  absurdity  of  that  supposition  ;  and 
for  the  audience  at  large,  it  must  suffice  to  say  that  the  ballads 
themselves  are  not  only  manifest  forgeries — false  as  to  matter, 
time,  and  place ;  incoherent  in  their  own  details,  and  absurd  in 
their  very  conception  ;  but  that  they  are  wearisome,  inane,  pitiful, 
outrageous,  and  often  indecent  absurdity,  which  it  is  penance  for 
anybody  to  read,  and  impossible  for  any  human  being  in  his  senses 
to  believe,  must  be  evident  to  anyone  who  knows  them.  The  only 


70  TRANSACTIONS. 

useful  purpose  on  earth  they  can  ever  serve,  is  to  illustrate  the  in- 
tellectual condition  of  the  Irish  people  in  the  middle  ages,  and  to 
demonstrate  by  comparison  the  infinite  superiority  of  Ossian. 
There  are  the  same  or  similar  names,  indeed,  both  of  men  and 
women,  in  connection  with  certain  places,  but  thousands  of  miles 
and  hundreds  of  years  go  for  nothing  in  their  calculations  and  re- 
citals ;  and  both  the  men  and  the  women  represented  by  such 
names  are  so  utterly  metamorphosed  in  these  egregious  composi- 
tions, that  they  are  no  longer  recognisable  as  the  same  human 
beings.  Fingal,  for  example,  or  Finn-Mac-Coul,  as  he  is  called, 
captain  of  the  Irish  Militia,  is,  according  to  most  of  them,  a  sort 
of  lumbering,  lascivious,  bloodthirsty  old  dotard ;  and  Grania,  his 
wife,  an  ill-behaved,  half-bewitched  or  lightheaded  young  woman — 
betrothed  against  her  will  to  Finn,  who  might  have  been  her  grand- 
father ;  elopes  immediately  afterwards  with  one  of  his  genei^als, 
and  careers  about  the  country  with  that  young  gentleman  for  an 
indefinite  period  of  time,  pursued  by  Finn  with  thousands  of  his 
Militia,  till  her  paramour  is  slain,  and  she  herself  brought  home 
again  in  disgrace.  This,  according  to  them,  was  the  light  of  Cor- 
mac's  race ;  this  is  the  woman  that  should  be  Ossian's  mother  ! 
Ossian  himself,  in  the  meantime,  is  represented  as  a  married  man 
and  a  father — a  widower,  in  fact,  who  undertakes  to  conduct  the 
courtship  for  his  own  father  !  and  ultimately  degenerates,  according 
to  other  ballads,  into  a  half-drunken,  sensual,  maundering  old 
rhyming  rascal,  disputing  with  Sfc  Patrick  about  heaven  and  hell, 
being  then  presumably  about  250  years  old  !  On  the  same  princi- 
ple, Oscar,  Cuchullin,  Fillan,  and  Gaul,  are  either  clowns,  or  boors, 
or  blockheads,  or  idiotic  monsters  on  one  hand ;  or  superhuman 
prodigies  of  wisdom  and  courage  on  the  other — for  there  are  half-a- 
dozen  editions  of  every  character ;  and  their  battles,  their  adven- 
tures, their  romances,  as  a  matter  of  course,  correspond  in  style  as 
well  as  in  substance — being  either  prosaic  commonplace,  or  un- 
mitigated vulgarity  intermixed  with  oaths,  or  intolerable  bombast 
— wearisome  or  offensive,  in  the  very  best  translations.  Yet,  this 
is  the  sort  of  material  from  which  Macpherson  is  supposed  to  have 
created  the  Fingal,  the  Roscrana,  the  Oscar,  and  Malvina  of 
Ossian's  poems,  at  the  age  of  eighteen  or  twenty  !  If  so,  then  his 
intellect,  his  diligence,  his  tact,  his  creative  power,  his  moral 
nature,  and  his  poetic  genius,  must  have  been  in  proportion.  He 
had  to  create  a  new  Fingal,  a  new  Roscrana,  a  new  Oscar,  a  new 
Malvina,  and  a  new  everybody  else.  Above  all,  he  had  to  create 
a  new  Ossian,  and  to  put  into  his  head  a  new  world,  into  his  heart 


THE   AUTHENTICITY   OF   OSSIAN.  71 

a  new  moral  universe,  into  his  mouth  a  new  language,  into  his 
harp  new  melodies  of  song.  He  had  to  re-arrange  the  relation- 
ships, from  first  to  last,  among  all  these  abnormal  personages,  and 
a  hundred  others  besides,  impossible  and  revolting,  connected  with 
them ;  to  occupy  their  time,  their  strength,  their  faculties,  their 
very  hands  and  feet,  on  another  principle ;  to  allocate  new  scenes 
of  adventure,  to  describe  new  battles,  to  record  new  events,  to 
bring  about  new  issues,  to  prepare  new  catastrophes,  to  celebrate 
new  triumphs,  to  lament  new  sorts  of  defeat ;  in  short,  to  create  a 
new  world  for  new  inhabitants,  and  to  re-adjust  all  conditions  for 
their  new  existence ;  to  invent  new  genealogies,  new  destinies,  new 
descents,  new  births,  marriages,  and  deaths ;  new  lives  and  new 
histories — a  work  ten  times  more  difficult  and  elaborate  than 
Goethe  undertook  in  transforming  the  old  devil-mongering  Faust 
of  Europe  into  the  new,  and  which  took  him  sixty-one  years  to 
finish.  Yet  all  this,  according  to  Johnson,  Pinkerton,  Laing,  Mac- 
aulay,  and  Campbell,  the  lad  seems  actually  to  have  done  in  the 
course  of  a  year  or  two,  and  did  not  himself  know  either  how  or 
where  he  did  it,  is  bewildered  in  total  ignorance  of  the  whereabouts 
of  his  own  incredible  achievement !  The  Irish  themselves  are  in 
equal  ignorance  about  the  scenes  of  their  romances—  the  very  ro- 
mances which  he  is  supposed  to  have  followed.  The  only  thing 
they  are  agreed  about  is  that  Fingal  was  an  Irishman,  and  the 
Captain  of  Irish  Militia ;  but  whether  it  was  at  Dublin  or  at 
Drogheda,  at  Rome  or  at  Jerusalem,  he  was  chiefly  employed  with 
his  miraculous  troops — in  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  or  in  pursuit  of 
his  wife,  with  all  the  witches  and  magicians  in  the  Island  to  help 
him,  in  vain — they  are  not  agreed.  The  only  thing,  on  the  other 
hand,  as  regards  Ireland,  that  Macpherson  seems  to  see  is  that  the 
scene  of  his  hero's  exploits  must  have  been  somewhere  in  the  Pro- 
vince of  Ulster — between  Derry,  perhaps,  and  Antrim  or  Armagh. 
In  point  of  fact — setting  all  this  ignorance  and  all  these  idle  con- 
jectures aside — the  only  region  directly  covered  by  his  own  trans- 
lation is  between  Larne  and  Belfast,  where  every  position  may  be 
identified,  and  every  movement  traced,  in  defiance  of  his  own 
opinion  !  Yet  all  this  contradiction  ;  all  these  miraculous  absurdi- 
ties ;  these  palpable,  self-evident  impossibilities  ;  these  stippositions 
of  falsehood  which  confute  themselves,  and  charges  of  dishonesty 
which  baffle  comprehension — his  accusers  would  rather  believe  and 
reiterate,  than  believe  the  lad's  own  explicit  declaration  that  there 
was  a  Scotch  Gaelic  original  before  him,  and  that  the  Irish  mediae- 
val romances  were  corruptions  of  that  very  text.  Surely  "  the 
force  of  folly  can  no  farther  go  !  " 


72  TRANSACTIONS. 

II.  To  do  the  editors  and  collectors  of  these  Irish  ballads  jus- 
tice, however,  they  do  not  claim  either  Ossianic  origin  or  historic 
value,  or  even  common  sense  for  the  whole  of  them.  They  do  not 
affirm  that  they  were  written  by  Ossian,  which  indeed  they  could 
not  be,  unless  he  had  lived  till  the  age  of  Methuselah  ;  but  only 
that  they  were  ascribed  to  him  by  their  own  authors,  and  related 
to  exploits  in  which  he,  and  his  son,  and  his  father  were  understood 
to  be  concerned.  They  do  not  maintain  that  they  are  all  reliable 
historical  documents,  but  only  some  of  them — and  these,  perhaps, 
a  little  exaggerated  ;  and  finally,  they  admit  that  many  of  them 
are  "  romantic  "  in  their  sense  of  the  word — that  is,  purely  imagi- 
native, which,  in  our  sense  of  the  word,  would  mean  incredibly 
foolish,  in  the  way  of  fiction.  And  just  to  show  that  I  have  not 
been  misrepresenting  these  remarkable  productions,  let  us  take  a 
specimen  or  two  of  the  three  different  sorts. 

1.  Of  the  historical  so-called  : — It  has  been  alleged,  for  instance, 
that  the  poem  of  Fingal  was  plagiarised  from  the  Lay  of  Magnus 
the  Great,  because  there  is  a  resemblance  between  them  in  certain 
points.  There  is  a  resemblance  in  mere  words  to  the  extent  of 
about  20  lines  in  3196  ;  and  a  sort  of  resemblance — a  sort  of  up- 
side-down resemblance,  in  two  characters  out  of  some  six  dozen  or 
more  ;  but  the  resemblance  even  of  these  is  that  of  a  noisy  dwarf 
in  giant's  clothes  to  a  full-grown  man,  both  grand  and  eloquent. 
It  has  neither  body  nor  mind,  place  nor  position,  age  nor  action, 
speech  nor  figure,  to  correspond  ;  and  although  Fingal  could  never 
have  been  plagiarised  from  Magnus,  Magnus,  in  its  dwarfish  pomp, 
might  very  easily,  by  corrupt  tradition  or  recital,  have  been  plagi- 
arised from  a  scrap  or  two  of  Fingal.  As  for  details,  in  Fingal 
every  mile  may  be  identified  ;  in  Magnus,  not  an  inch  ;  in  Fingal, 
a  term  corresponding  to  Magnus — the  Great  Man — occurs  once  in 
application  to  Swarran,  and  if  Macpherson  had  been  an  impostor 
it  would  never  have  occurred  at  all  ;  but  being  so  found  in  Ossian, 
and  misinterpreted  by  the  Seanachies,  it  became  the  foundation  of 
their  tale  about  Magnus.  In  Fingal,  a  demand  is  made  by  Swar- 
ran for  Cuthullin's  wife  and  dog,  in  token  of  submission,  in  nearly 
the  same  terms  in  which  a  similar  demand  is  made  in  Magnus  by 
Magnus  himself  against  Finn.  But  Cuthullin's  wife  is  expressly 
said  by  Ossian  to  have  been  in  Skye  at  the  time,  and  so  also  ap- 
parently was  his  dog.  Therefore,  the  demand  could  never  have 
been  complied  with  by  the  one,  although  it  might  have  been  by  the 
other — a  difference  which  Macpherson,  if  he  had  been  an  impostor 
writing  down  the  very  words,  would  certainly  have  avoided  or  ex- 


THE   AUTHENTICITY    OF    OSSIAN.  73 

plained,  for  his  own  credit.  But  in  point  of  fact,  Magnus  never 
made  any  such  demand— had  neither  time  nor  opportunity  to 
make  it.  He  landed  with  a  small  company  on  the  coast,  with  a 
view  to  examine  the  country,  but  he  was  surrounded  in  an  ambus- 
cade by  the  Irish,  and  cut  to  pieces  on  the  spot.  Finally,  Fingal 
purports  to  be  of  the  third  century,  and  every  word  corresponds. 
Magnus  also  purports  to  be  of  the  third  century,  but  not  rehearsed 
by  Ossian  till  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  and  the  event  itself, 
which  is  celebrated — namely,  the  death  of  Magnus — did  not  occur 
till  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  ! — that  is,  it  was  written 
by  Ossian  900  years  and  more  before  the  event  happened,  and 
about  200  years  after  Ossian  himself  was  dead  ;  so  that  falsehood 
and  forgery  throughout  are  manifest  on  the  face  of  it.  This  is  one 
of  their  greatest  historical  epics,  from  which  Fingal  is  supposed  to 
have  been  plagiarised  ! 

In  like  manner,  it  is  alleged  that  there  is  a  suspicious  resem- 
blance between  a  certain  part  of  Temora  and  the  Death  of  Oscar. 
There  is  not  the  slighest  resemblance  in  any  way — in  language, 
place,  or  time,  except  that  Oscar  is  mortally  wounded  by  Cairbre, 
and  that  Cairbre  is  killed  by  Oscar  before  he  dies.  Those  who 
have  read  Temora,  as  delineated  in  "  Ossian  and  the  Clyde,"  will 
know  how  the  assassination  of  Oscar  happened — when  and  where, 
on  the  low  road  between  Larne  and  Connor,  or  in  the  valley  there. 
In  the  Irish  ballad,  it  was  not  an  assassination  at  all,  but  a  fair 
fight  on  the  field  of  Gavra  near  the  palace  of  Tara,  in  Meath,  after 
a  great  deal  of  preliminary  slaughter  on  both  sides — and  the  style 
of  it  was  this  : — Oscar,  before  he  falls,  cuts  off  with  his  own  steel 
blade  100  champions,  100  stout  heroes,  100  keen  arcliers,  100  stal- 
wart spearmen,  100  illustrious  chiefs — 500  in  all,  the  most  of  them 
in  armour,  or  protected  at  least  by  sword  and  shield  like  himself. 
After  these  exertions — by  which  Samson  himself  would  have  been 
slightly  exhausted — he  receives  through  the  body,  "  sheer  through 
his  manly  frame,"  a  poisoned  dart  of  "  seven  blunt  barbs,"  which 
ultimately  drinks  up  his  life  blood  ;  but  whilst  agonised  by  this 
wound,  and  with  the  dart  projecting  through  his  body,  he  first 
strikes  Cairbre,  his  assailant,  dead,  by  a  blow  on  the  forehead  with 
his  "  nine  barbed  steel,"  and  then  Cairbre's  lieutenant  with  an- 
other dart,  through  the  sounding  mail.  The  remnant  of  the  dis- 
comfited hosts  on  his  own  side  then  bear  him  to  his  grandfather 
Finn's  house,  on  their  spears,  where  Finn  himself  arrives  unex- 
pectedly— either  from  Rome  or  from  the  south  of  Ireland — it  is  not 
quite  certain  which— -where  (that  is,  in  the  south  of  Ireland)  he 


74  TRANSACTIONS. 

was  performing  the  annual  feat  of  jumping  over  a  dreadful  chasm, 
in  fulfilment  of  a  vow  to  some  lady,  who  had  fancied  him  in  his 
youth  ;  and  which  nobody  in  Ireland  but  himself,  althotigh  he  was 
then  a  grandfather,  could  do.  Arriving  thus  in  time,  he  proposes 
to  heal  Oscar  by  the  application  of  salves  ;  but  Oscar  objects  to  this 
as  needless,  and  so  dies.  Now,  this  is  not  only  what  is  called  epic 
history — like  our  own  Chevy  Chase,  but  is  part  of  the  history  of 
of  one  of  the  most  important  battles  said  ever  to  have  been  fought 
in  Ireland — in  which  the  rebel  Fenians  under  Oscar  were  utterly 
routed,  and  their  power  in  the  kingdom  abolished.  It  was  fought 
296  A.D.  ;  and  the  story  is  rehearsed  by  Ossian  to  St  Patrick,  who 
flourished  in  Ireland  450  A.D.  ;  so  that  the  poet  himself — poor, 
blind,  pitiful,  and  discontented — no  wonder  !  must  have  been  then 
about  250  years  old,  being  above  80  years  old  when  it  happened. 
This,  we  repeat,  is  not  only  quoted,  but  relied  on  as  history ;  and 
there  is  a  great  deal  more  of  the  same  sort  of  history  in  the  ballads. 

2.  Let  us  now  take  a  specimen  of  what  may  be  called  histori- 
cal romance.     A.t  the  Chase  of  Slieve-na-man,  besides  Finn  and  his 
sons,  there  were  3000  chiefs  of  the  Fenian  race,  in  satin  vests, 
polished  mail,  helmets  inlaid  with  gems  and  gold,  shields  of  bright 
and  emerald  green,  with  two  glittering  lances  each,  and  a  blade  of 
tempered  steel ;  each  of  these  gentlemen  had  also  two  dogs — that 
is,  more  than  6000  dogs  in  all ;   and  each  of  these  dogs,  in  a  few- 
hours,  from  a   herd  of  deer   beyond   number    on  the  mountain, 
brought  down   a  couple  to  his  own  share — that  is,   12,000  odds. 
They  then  go  in  pursuit  of  the  boars,  which  assemble  in  such  mul- 
titudes— the  old  ones  outside,  the  younger  ones  inside — and  show 
such  ferocity  that  many  of  the  huntsmen  themselves  are  discom- 
fited and  destroyed,  besides  hundreds  of  dogs,  before  the  carnage  of 
the  brutes  is  effected  ;  and  all  this  in  the  course  of  one  forenoon  ap- 
parently, on  the  side  of  a  single  mountain  !     This  is  a  specimen  of 
historical  romance,  and   is   also  rehearsed  to  St  Patrick  : — 3000 
men,  6000  dogs  assembled  ;  12,000  deer  slain,  as  many  wild  boars 
apparently,  and  multitudes  of  men — all  on  one  hillside,  and  all  in 
one  day  before  sunset  !     The  only  wonder  is,  how,  among  so  many 
dogs,  deers,  and  wild  boars  in  the  same  country-side,  human  beings 
could  survive  at  all ! 

3.  Of  foolish,  or   what   is  politely  called  mythical   fiction — 
which,  however,  seems  to  have  been  very  highly  relished — we  may 
take  the  following  specimen  in  brief,  from  the  Chase  of  Glenasmol. 
Finn,    in    that   ballad,    accompanied    by   his  friends,  and  by  the 
Fenians,  of  course,  with  their  dogs,  unleashes  his  own  supernatural 


THE    AUTHENTICITY    OF    OSSIAN.  "5 

hounds — two  human  beings,  in  fact,  brother  and  sister,  in  the 
shape  of  dogs  !  They  start  a  hornless  doe,  black  as  night  on  one 
side,  and  bright  as  light  on  the  other  ;  the  doe  flies,  the  dogs  pursue  ; 
and  the  entire  pack,  with  the  exception  of  Bran,  is  immediately  de- 
stroyed. At  this  crisis  of  consternation,  Finn  and  his  friends  are 
invited  by  a  lady  of  surpassing  beauty  to  advance,  which,  with 
some  trepidation  they  do.  They  are  then  confronted  by  a  hideous 
giantess,  who,  with  a  fleet  behind  her  of  a  thousand  ships,  and  an 
inconceivable  store  of  satins,  silks,  and  shining  ore.  with  many  a 
cask  of  rosy  wine,  and  many  a  spit  with  haunch  of  deer — repre- 
sents herself  to  be  the  Princess  of  Greece,  and  demands  Finn  on 
the  spot — who  is  always  much  in  request  among  the  ladies — for  a 
husband.  This  the  wary  chief,  however,  who  suspects  that  she  is 
the  Doe  in  a  new  form,  declines  to  accede  to  ;  and  the  giantess  then 
proceeds,  with  magic  cruelty,  to  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  his 
friends,  by  scores  and  hundreds,  and  tens  of  hundreds  at  a  time. 
This  process  continues  for  several  days,  till  three  thousand  men  or 
more  have  been  despatched  by  the  lady,  till  she  herself  is  ultimately 
despatched  by  Gaul  and  Ossian  together,  who  come  often  to  the 
rescue  in  such  cases,  when  Finn  himself,  who  seems  to  be  a  great, 
cowardly,  hulking  villain,  can  do  nothing.  This,  again,  is  a  speci- 
men of  their  romance,  properly  so-called,  and  there  are  nine-tenths 
of  it  of  the  same  character,  with  a  good  deal  that  is  indecent  and 
unreadable  besides. 

Now,  if  Irish  antiquaries  and  critics  can  accept  such  history 
and  extol  such  romance,  it  would  be  in  vain  to  reason  with  them. 
They  must  be  allowed  to  exercise  their  own  privilege  of  selection 
and  admiration  at  pleasure ;  but  when  they  insist  that  we  shall 
accept  such  history,  or  admire  such  romance,  the  case  is  different. 
Above  all,  when  they  maintain  that  such  poems  are  the  ORIGINALS 
of  Ossian  ;  that  Macpherson  by  stealth  obtained  possession  of  them, 
and  out  of  such  unspeakable  rubbish  manufactured  the  sublime 
epics  of  Fingal  and  Temora — we  must  confront  them  sternly,  and 
demand  once  for  all,  in  the  hearing  of  the  world,  if  they  take  us  to 
be  fools  or  madmen  ?  And  it  is  the  more  necessary  to  do  this,  be- 
cause certain  critics  among  ourselves,  who  seem  not  to  be  able  to 
distinguish  between  the  sublimest  fact  and  the  supremest  folly,  or 
are  perversely  bent  on  substituting  folly  for  fact,  support  this  egre  - 
gious  calumny,  and  expect  intelligent  readers  to  believe  it.  If 
such  an  idea  were  conceivable  at  all,  then  Macpherson  at  the  age 
of  eighteen  or  twenty,  with  Irish  MSS.  in  his  hands,  did  more  than 
all  the  Seanachies,  of  all  the  Provinces  of  all  Ireland,  for  more  than 


76  TRANSACTIONS. 

500  years  together,  could  do  ;  and  yet  en  their  own  admission  (the 
admission  of  his  detractors,  English  and  Irish  alike),  Macpherson 
could  not  read  a  word  of  Irish  Gaelic,  and  could  not  have  trans- 
lated a  word  of  it  correctly,  if  he  had  had  the  world  for  a  recom- 
pence  !  On  the  other  hand,  is  it  not  manifest  that  these  childish  fables 
or  atrocious  lies  are  the  shameless  corruptions  of  more  ancient  and 
really  heroic  traditions,  falsified  and  interlarded  with  outrageous 
nonsense  to  gratify  the  taste  of  the  vulgar  •  and  then  ascribed  by 
their  own  degraded  authors  to  Ossian,  because  Ossian  was  known 
to  be  a  poet,  and  had  once  visited  the  region,  and  because  it  was 
desirable  to  convert  both  himself  and  his  people  into  Irishmen1?  It 
was  desirable,  above  all,  to  make  him  a  Catholic,  and  to  give  St 
Patrick,  with  his  Psalm-singing  crew,  the  honour  of  his  conversion. 
That  is  the  simple,  natural,  and  indubitable  explanation  of  it ;  of 
all  which  Macpherson  was  as  innocent,  as  if  he  had  not  yet  been 
born. 

4.  The  only  Irish  traditions  of  any  value  whatever,  in  con- 
nection with  the  authenticity  of  Ossian,  are  the  "  Historical  He- 
mains  oT  Tighernagh  "  and  the  "  Four  Masters ; "  and  these  are 
valuable  in  the  way  of  confirmation,  by  indirect  circumstantial  evi- 
dence alone.  By  carefully  collating  their  contents  with  the  text  of 
Ossian,  the  clearest  corroboration  of  his  narratives,  in  many  essen- 
tial particulars,  may  be  obtained.  But  so  far  was  Macpherson  from 
knowing  anything  about  this,  that  the  most  scholarly  Irishman, 
from  the  days  of  the  "  Four  Masters  "  themselves,  was  not  aware  of 
it.  Dr  O'Donovan  himself,  the  editor  and  translator  of  the  "  Four 
Masters,"  must  have  traversed  with  his  own  feet,  again  and  again, 
the  very  ground  where  Fingal  fought,  where  Oscar  fell,  and  where 
Ossian  sang,  and  yet  never  recognised  it !  The  Irish  themselves  in 
that  neighbourhood,  at  the  present  moment,  are  as  comfortably  ig- 
norant, and  as  provokingly  unconscious  of  the  fact  as  anybody  else  ; 
and  a  tourist,  with  Ossian  in  his  hand,  may  visit  the  scenes  of  the 
oldest  and  most  romantic  events  in  their  history,  with  far  more 
ease  and  certainty  than  by  listening  to  their  most  eloquent,  most 
obliging,  and  most  bewildering  misdirections  on  the  subject,  and 
on  the  very  spot  ! 

III.  CHARACTERISTICS  OP  OSSIAN  :  INTELLECTUAL  AND  MORAL. 
CONCLUSION. 

I. — 1.  On  the  supposition  then  that  Macpherson  himself  did 
not  fabricate  these  poems  on  the  one  hand,  and  that  they  could  not 


THE    AUTHENTICITY   OF    OSSIAN.  77 

have  been  fabricated  out  of  Irish  mediaeval  ballads  on  the  other ; 
but  must  have  been  translated  from  some  original  extant  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  although  now  apparently  lost,  or  at  least  im- 
perfectly preserved — to  whom  ought  the  authorship  of  that  original 
to  be  ascribed  ]  To  WHOM  ]  To  the  man  assuredly  whose  name  it 
bears  on  every  second  pag*e  and  in  every  poem  ;  who  describes  him- 
self as  the  son  of  a  king,  as  the  grandson  of  a  king,  as  the  great- 
grandson  of  a  king,  as  the  great-great-grandson  of  a  king ;  as  the 
representative  'of  a  race  of  kings  and  heroes,  himself  a  hero  and  a 
king ;  above  all,  as  the  king  of  songs — the  type,  the  voice,  the 
musical  embodiment ;  the  vital  history,  the  perpetual  jight  and 
glory  ;  the  last  conscious  remnant  of  his  race,  blind  but  beatified ; 
and  the  living  monument,  sorrow-stricken  but  immortal,  of  his 
people.  Such  an  outline ;  alone  of  the  man — of  his  personality,  of 
his  function,  and  of  his  fate  ;  of  what  he  was,  and  did,  and  claimed 
through  all  coining  ages  to  be— is  proof  enough  of  his  identity,  of 
his  authorship,  of  his  works,  to  anyone  who  knows  how  to  read  or 
how  to  interpret  human  life  and  action.  Claims  like  these,  re- 
hearsed in  a  catalogue,  might  possibly  have  .been  invented  ;  but 
claims  and  characteristics  like  these,  with  words  to  correspond — 
wrought  into  the  very  fabric  of  his  speech  in  .so,  many  coherent 
syllables,  in  scattered  yet  consistent  intimations ;;  reiterated,  yet  not 
obtruded;  shadowed  forth  and  yet<  incorporated,- in  .the  long-con- 
tinued strain,  from  year  to  year,. and  from  poem  to  poem— were 
beyond  the  reach,  beyond  the  conception  even,  of.  any,  mere  inven- 
tor ;  must  have  been  the  natural  and  spontaneous  outcome  of  the 
life  itself  that  was  so  embodied,  the  speech  of  the  man  that  was  so 
represented,  the  record  of  the  soul  that  was  so  inspired.  If  there 
had  been  a  flaw  anywhere,  it  would  be  noticed ;  if  there  had  been 
an  incongruity,  it  would  be  suspicious  ;  if  a  contradiction  could  be 
proved,  it  might  be  fatal.  But  there  is  no  flaw,  no  incongruity, 
no  contradiction.  It  is  all  one  long,  lofty,  melodious,  profoundly 
sad  and  proudly  melancholy  monologue ;  interrupted  only  by 
apostrophes  to. the  sun,  to  the  moon,  to  the  stars,  to  the  winds,  to 
the  souls  of  heroes ;  relieved  only  by  the  lingering  radiance  of  a 
love  that  was  once  supreme,  and  of  a  heroism  once  unrivalled ; 
sustained  only  and  always  by  the  prophetic  assurance  of  an  im- 
mortality co-equal  with  the  heavens.  It  was  Fingal  always  that 
he  idolised  and  worshipped ;  it  was  Roscrana  always,  that  queenly 
mother,  he  adored ;  it  was  Oscar  always,  that  dear  lost  son,  he 
lamented  ;  it  was  Evirallin  always  that  he  loved ;  it  was  Malvina, 
for  her  own  and  for  Oscar's  sake,  that  he  always  cherished  ;  it  was 


78  TRANSACTIONS. 

his  brothel's,  and  his  brethren  in  arms,  that  he  always  eulogised  ; 
it  was  his  noble  enemies  that  he  honoured ;  it  was  courage  and 
magnanimity  he  extolled  ;  it  was  moral  grandeur  always  that  he 
reverenced ;  it  was  the  worthy  alone  he  celebrated — and  it  was 
himself  alone,  the  sole  survivor  of  all  this  magnificence,  he  be- 
moaned in  his  blindness  and  solitude.  [Compare  apostrophe  and  la- 
ment in  Berrathon,  "  Bend  thy  blue  course,  O  stream,"  &c.]  Fingal 
had  been  for  him  as  the  sun  in  the  firmament,  the  concentrated 
effulgence  of  heroic  light  for  centuries — but  Fingal  had  departed. 
Oscar  might  have  been  another  such — an  emanation  of  his  own — 
but  Oscar,  alas  !  had  been  quenched  in  the  shadow  of  premature 
death,  although  not  without  glory  in  the  gloom.  Malvina  herself, 
who  in  a  daughter's  place  had  been  his  solace  hitherto,  "  with  all 
her  music  and  with  all  her  songs  " — she  also  was  now  gone.  The 
rest,  who  had  been  all  like  separate  sunbeams — tender  and  bright, 
or  fierce  and  dazzling  as  the  case  might  be — they,  too,  were  gone  ; 
they  were  all  gone  !  and  there  was  no  power  known,  in  heaven  or 
on  earth,  to  restore  them.  For  him  these  had  irradiated  the  world 
— but  they  had  been  removed  ;  and  his  own  eyesight  had  followed, 
as  if  in  sympathetic  darkness.  He  looked  for  them  wistfully, 
through  the  long  dark-brown  years — but  they  came  not,  would 
never  come  ;  it  was  midnight  and  eclipse  now,  for  himself  and  for 
his  people  for  ever  !  and  this  to  such  a  pitch  of  shade  that  it  in- 
volves the  very  heavens.  The  sun  himself  may  fail,  and  the  moon 
may  fade,  because  Fingal  had  faded,  and  because  Ossian  fol- 
lowed ;  and  the  poor,  pale,  green-eyed  children  of  the  sky  may  yet 
obtain  a  brief  supremacy,  because  the  sons  of  little  men  should 
succeed  in  the  room  of  such  heroes  !  [Compare  again  apostrophe 
to  the  sun  in  Oarthon,  "  O  thou  that  rollest  above,  round  as  the 
shield  of  my  fathers  ! "  and  to  the  moon  in  Darthula,  "  Daughter 
of  Heaven,  fair  art  thou  !  the  silence  of  thy  face  is  pleasant."] 

This  grief,  which  assails  the  skies,  might  be  excessive,  but  it  was 
not  fictitious  ;  this  despair,  which  clouds  the  earth,  might  be  selfish, 
but  there  was  no  relief;  it  may  be  oppressive  sometimes  even  to 
hear  it,  but  it  must  be  heard.  Those  who  prefer  other  themes — 
such  as  the  hunter's  song,  or  the  festive  chorus — are  not  to  be  con- 
demned ;  but  exalted  sorrow  like  this  is  for  the  world's  most  solemn 
hearing.  Deer-stalking  at  your  leisure  on  some  Highland  hillside 
is  one  thing  ;  to  meet  the  conquerors  of  the  world  in  arms  on  the 
open  field,  or  Scandinavian  pirates  by  hundreds  and  thousands  on 
the  storm-beaten  shore,  was  another.  To  see  a  stag  fall  to  your 
own  rifle  on  Ben  Dorain  is  one  thing  ;  to  see  son  after  son,  brother 


THE    AUTHENTICITY   OF    OSSIAN.  79 

after  brother,  mother,  wife,  and  daughter  sink  in  blood,  by  the 
sword,  by  the  spear,  by  the  bow  of  your  triumphant  adversary — 
was  another  and  a  very  different  thing  ;  and  gifted  critics  of  the 
present  day,  who  prefer  less  sorrowful  subjects,  should  try  to 
understand  the  difference  before  they  underrate  the  so-called  mo- 
notony of  Ossian.  Ossian  was  without  father  and  without  mother ; 
without  son,  without  daughter  ;  without  people,  without  prospect ; 
without  God,  and  without  hope  in  the  world — when  he  uttered 
the  most  melancholy  of  his  strains.  His  only  refuge  then  was 
with  the  spirits  of  his  kindred  in  the  clouds ;  and  Macpherson  with 
all  his  alleged  power  of  lying  could  not,  for  his  life,  by  any  trick  of 
translation  have  made  Ossian  speak  otherwise  than  thus. 

2.  But  Ossian's  SPEECH  implies  much  more  than  this.  This 
accumulated  sorrow  was  by  no  means  all  his  own ;  this  profound 
melancholy  was  not  for  himself  exclusively.  It  was  the  accumu- 
lated sorrow  of  races  already  extinct,  with  melancholy  forebodings 
superadded  for  a  race  now  rapidly  disappearing ;  which  he  had 
preserved  and  arranged  as  it  reached  his  ears  in  fragments ;  and 
which  he  recited  for  the  instruction,  or  the  consolation  of  others, 
in  sympathetic  cadence.  It  was  the  growth,  the  echo,  the  rehear- 
sal, and  manifold  musical  articulation  of  eventful  centuries.  It 
came,  and  it  still  comes  to  us  thus,  like  a  sonorous  river  of  many 
streams,  with  sorrowful  murmur  through  desolate  continents  of 
mist  and  clouds,  where  long-bearded  bards  assemble,  and  the  ghosts 
of  the  mighty  condole.  It  is  swollen  with  affluents  of  melancholy 
music — with  dirges,  and  with  songs  of  death — through  de- 
serted glens ;  and  with  tingling  torrents  of  victory  from  the 
verge  of  rocks,  where  the  eagle  screams  and  where  thunders 
roll.  It  murmurs  hoarse  through  mazes  of  moorland  strewn 
with  slaughter,  or  exults  in  briefer  and  higher  notes,  among  straths 
in  the  fitful  sunshine,  which  seems  to  be  always  passing  away. 
Crowded  with  armies  on  its  brink,  and  tinged  with  blood, 
it  eehoes  sad  among  the  caverns  of  the  dead,  and  surges  at 
last  above  the  din  of  battle,  like  the  triumphant  sea.  Snow-drifts, 
in  the  meantime,  from  Iceland  and  Norway,  are  whitening  its 
banks,  the  rumble  of  earthquakes  is  heard  underneath,  and  the 
shriek  of  discomfited  demons  mingles  with  the  wail  of  its  waters. 
Its  accompaniment  throughout  is  the  chime  of  harps,  and  the  deep 
gong  at  midnight  signalises  an  epoch  in  its  histoiy.  Yet,  in  all 
this  multitudinous  combination  of  sounds  there  is  but  one  voice — 
distinct,  unmistakable,  supreme — the  voice  of  the  King  of  Songs, 
the  voice  of  the  Bard  of  Cona ;  all  which  could  no  more  be  a  work 


80  TRANSACTIONS. 

of  fiction — a  feigned,  or  fictitious  rehearsal— than  the  sound  of  an 
Eolian  harp,  or  the  sighing  of  the  wind  among  the  woods  at  mid- 
night. 

II. — 1.  But  not  alone  is  his  voice  significant:  his  EYESIGHT, 
and  the  loss  of  it  alike,  are  alike  characteristic  and  remarkable. 
His  own  power  of  vision,  with  intense  distinctness  of  perception 
whilst  the  faculty  lasted,  and  his  power  of  realising  also  vividly 
what  others  had  been  and  described,  are  beyond  the  ordinary  range 
even  of  poetic  seers  ;  and  when  eyesight  failed,  his  power  of  recall- 
ing and  reproducing,  in  pictorial  terms  of  the  strictest  accuracy, 
what  he  had  once  seen,  is  unrivalled  by  anyone  since  the  days  of 
Homer.  Only  in  one  solitary  case,  so  far  as  I  can  now  recollect, 
does  he  confess  himself  at  fault ;  and  in  the  poem  referred  to  a 
slight  indistinctness  as  to  certain  features  of  the  scene  seems  in- 
deed to  supervene.  Darkness  comes  down  on  the  horizon,  in  spite 
of  him  ;  the  outlines  of  the  landscape  seem  to  fade  from  his  view  ; 
"the  vision  grows  dim  on  his  mind  ;"  and  he  lays  the  harp  aside 
at  last,  in  sorrow  and  vexation.  And  no  wonder  that  this  should 
have  been  the  case,  for  the  date  of  the  tragedy  in  question — Con- 
lath  and  Cuthona — was  in  his  early  manhood,  and  the  scene  had 
been  surveyed  by  him  then  only  in  passing.  Yet  the  scene  can  be 
identified  at  this  moment  [see  "  Ossian  and  the  Clyde  "]  with  almost 
as  much  certainty  as  any  other  in  the  range  of  his  writings,  which 
implies  an  amount  of  truthfulness  and  accuracy  in  description  that 
no  impostor  in  the  circumstances  could  ever  have  attained,  if  any 
impostor  in  his  senses  could  either  have  imagined  or  admitted  such 
circumstances  at  all.  What  liar  would  first  confess  that  he  could 
not  see,  and  then  proceed  to  describe  a  scene  which  he  never  saw, 
because  it  never  existed ;  which,  nevertheless,  could  be  identified  a 
hundred  years  afterwards  by  his  own  description,  because  it  really 
did  exist  and  corresponded  exactly  ?  The  very  idea  is  preposter- 
ous, and  transcends  anything  we  have  yet  attained  to  in  the  way 
of  spiritual  clairvoyance  and  necromancy.  For  places  "  to  be  and 
not  to  be  ;  "  for  men  to  see  and  not  to  see,  at  one  and  the  same 
moment — "  these  are  the  questions  ! " 

2.  By  means  of  this  wonderful  faculty  in  Ossian  before  it  was 
impaired,  we  have  geographical  outlines  supplied  to  us  of  a  double 
range  of  coast,  extending  from  Ireland  to  the  Orkneys,  including 
all  the  most  important  features — such  as  islands,  lochs,  friths, 
rivers,  and  indentations,  with  mountain  ranges  and  sequestered 
valleys  — on  the  line  ;  and  we  have  topographical  landmarks  in  ad- 
dition, for  the  most  interesting  points  alluded  to  in  the  poems 


THE   AUTHENTICITY   OF    OSSIAJf.  81 

•which  refer  to  the  region,  so  exactly  given  that  mistake  about  their 
identity  or  whereabouts  is  impossible.  With  most  of  these  he 
seems  to  have  been  personally  acquainted ;  of  others  beyond,  as  in 
Iceland  and  Norway,  he  had  obtained  and  embodied  equally  graphic 
accounts  from  his  father,  from  his  son,  from  his  kinsfolk  and  com- 
panions in  arms ;  and,  upon  the  whole,  whether  from  his  own  ob- 
servation, or  from  the  description  of  others  embodied  by  him,  these 
geographical  outlines  have  been  found  so  absolutely  true  to  nature, 
both  as  it  now  is,  and  as  it  then  must  have  been,  that  they  may  be 
all  accepted  with  as  much  confidence  as  the  details  of  a  gazeteer  or 
the  measurements  of  a  surveyor.  In  the  whole  of  which  survey 
we  find  that  earthquakes  have  been  travelling  since  he  was  there, 
and  that  volcanoes  have  been  opened  ;  that  the  land  has  risen,  or 
that  the  sea  has  fallen  ;  that  friths  have  dwindled  to  rivers  ;  that 
islands  have  ended  in  peninsulas  ;  that  lakes  have  disappeared  in 
valleys ;  and  that  fertile  straths  are  now  expanding,  wheie  it  was 
once  the  rolling  sea — insomuch,  that  without  the  aid  of  Ossian 
the  west  coast  of  Scotland  and  the  north  of  Ireland  ;  the  "Voes  of 
Orkney  and  the  face  of  Iceland,  as  they  then  were,  would  not  be 
recognisable  at  the  present  moment.  Ossian,  in  short,  although  he 
knew  it  not  himself,  and  although  Macpherson  knew  it  not,  was 
the  father  of  modern  geology ;  and  rightly  understood,  is  still  the 
most  important  geological  authority  extant  in  Great  Britain. 
Murchison,  Lyell,  and  Miller  never  realised  his  revelations ;  and 
the  students  of  that  science,  if  they  wish  to  understand  it  thoroughly, 
must  take  the  poems  of  Ossian  at  last  for  their  oldest  reliable  guide. 
To  say  that  all  this  was  imposture  is  surely  worse  than  foolish. 
The  Clyde  and  the  Solway  themselves  must  be  liars,  if  Macpherson 
invented  all  this  ;  Lough  Lame  and  Lough  Neagh,  with  all  be- 
tween them,  must  be  a  delusion,  if  Fingal  and  Temora,  be  false  ; 
Arran  must  be  a  mistake,  if  Berrathon  be  a  fable ;  and  Iceland 
should  have  no  volcanoes,  no  geysers,  no  exhausted  fountains,  no 
burning  soil,  if  Oscar  was  never  in  Inisthona  ! 

3.  It  is  at  this  point,  perhaps  (Dr  Waddell  continued)  I  should 
now  observe,  before  passing  on,  that  the  great  weakness — the  self- 
contradiction,  in  fact — of  a  certain  half-and-half  theory  maintained 
by  some  distinguished  modern,  critics,  who  would  like  to  unite  the 
two  opposite  extremes  of  truth  and  falsehood,  if  they  could — dis- 
plays itself.  I  allude  to  the  sort  of  compromise  these  gentlemen 
wish  to  establish  between  the  opposite  extremes  of  an  honest  trans- 
lation on  the  one  hand,  and  downright  audacious  forgery  on  the 
other,  by  a  supposed  interlarding  of  poor  original  scraps  with  grand" 

r 


82  TRANSACTIONS. 

poetic  interpolations,  or  the  patching  up  of  fine  original  fragments 
with  mere  links  of  modern  invention.  It  would  be  desirable  if 
those  who  maintain  this  theory — who  thus  affect  to  believe,  and 
yet  not  to  believe  in  Ossian,  at  one  and  the  same  moment,  and  so 
damage  his  authenticity  from  beginning  to  end — would  put  their 
finger  on  some  of  the  passages  so  introduced,  and  show,  once  for 
all,  where  such  forgeries  appear.  If  the  passages  in  question  be 
the  splendid  ones,  then  according  to  their  own  account  they  could 
not  be  the  work  of  Macpherson,  for  he  was  no  more  able  to  pro- 
duce such  passages  or  anything  like  them,  they  admit,  than  to 
compose  the  Prophecies  of  Isaiah,  or  to  create  the  Island  of  Skye. 
If  they  are  mere  verbal  links  to  hold  the  important  pieces  to- 
gether, then  what  is  the  use  of  making  such  an  ado  about  them,  or 
of  discrediting  the  whole  for  their  sake  1  You  will  find  the  same 
sort  of  links  in  Genesis,  in  Exodus,  in  Job,  and  even  in  Isaiah ; 
yet  nobody  seriously  doubts  their  authenticity. 

But  I  deny  that  Macpherson  introduced  either  splendid  pas" 
sages  or  petty  links  ;  for  a  single  passage  so  introduced,  by  a  man 
who  knew  nothing  of  the  ground  work,  would  have  obliterated  the 
geography  not  only  of  any  entire  poem  where  such  interpolation 
was  made,  but  of  all  other  poems  connected  with  it.  But  the 
geography  of  every  poem  now  within  reach,  and  in  relation  to 
every  other  poem,  is  as  perfect,  I  repeat,  as  the  details  of  an  Ord- 
nance Survey  ;  and  what  is  yet  more  to  the  purpose,  certain  of 
these  poems — Berrathon,  for  example,  and  the  War  of  Inisthona, 
just  referred  to — where  the  geography  is  as  easily  traceable  as  if 
the  scenes  in  both  had  been  photographed,  have  no  Gaelic  original 
now  extant  at  all*.  Yet  the  Gaelic  scholars  in  question  seem  to 
maintain  that  we  have  the  originals  of  Ossian  now  all  before  us  ; 
and  yet  that  these  very  originals  so-called  are  but  a  piece  of  cunning 
patchwork,  of  which  they  themselves  can  tell  neither  "head  nor 
tail "  ;  and  from  which  a  still  more  cunning  translation,  with  no 
end  of  glosses,  fine  flourishes  of  fancy,  and  grand  interpolations  to 
set  it  off,  has  been  executed  by  an  unscrupulous  rogue — although 
you  can  see  almost  every  inch  of  the  many-sided  field  reflected  till 

*  There  Are,  in  point  of  fact,  eleven  entire  poems,  besides  fragments, 
many  of  them  most  important,  and  easily  identitied,  for  which  no  Gaelic 
has  yet  been  found — including  War  of  Caros,  War  of  Inisthona,  Battle  of 
Lora,  Death  of  Cuthullin,  Darthula,  Songs  of  Selma,  Lathmon,  Oithona, 
Berrathon,  Cathlin  of  Clutha,  and  Sulmalla  ;  one-half  in  point  of  number, 
although  certainly  not  in  extent,  being  only  more  than  a  third,  or  as  117  to 
315  pp.  of  the  whole. 


THE   AUTHENTICITY   OF   OSSIAJf.  83 

this  hour,  on  the  face  of  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Iceland — tens  and 
hundreds  of  miles  distant  from  where  the  rogue  imagined  it  to  be  ; 
and  in  regions  where  the  rogue  himself  never  set  either  finger,  foot, 
or  eye  :  and  this  to  such  an  extent  of  ignorance  on  his  part,  that 
although  he  had  actually  claimed  in  face  of  Europe  to  be  the 
author  of  these  poems  as  they  now  stand,  one  could  prove  him  to 
be  thus  a  liar  out  of  his  own  mouth.  He  was  never  at  Ferad 
Artho's  Cave,  he  was  never  at  the  Pass  of  Gleno  ;  he  was  never  at 
Malvina's  grave ;  he  was  never  at  Balclutha ;  for  anything  we 
know,  he  was  never  even  on  the  Clyde  ;  he  certainly  was  never  on 
the  K  elvin  at  Colzam,  or  on  the  Bonny  Water  at  Comala's  Rock  ; 
far  less  was  he  ever  at  Carricthura  in  Orkney,  or  at  the  head  of 
Reikum  Bay  in  Iceland — or  if  he  was,  he  did  not  know  them. 
Yet  all  these  points,  and  a  hundred  more,  have  been  described 
with  such  minute  topographical  accuracy  in  his  text,  that  only  an 
eye-witness  of  the  events  which  occurred  there,  or  one  who  had  an 
account  of  the  regions  from  other  eye-witnesses,  could  possibly 
have  been  the  author  of  the  original ;  and  what  is  more  remark- 
able than  all  that,  is  that  half-a-dozen  wrong  syllables  in  any  one 
of  these  poems  would  have  destroyed  the  geographical  identity 
both  of  such  poem  itself,  and  of  almost  all  the  rest  of  them.  What 
then  (asked  the  rev.  gentleman)  are  we  to  say  about  the  alleged 
"  high-handed  dealing,"  and  the  "  grand  interpolations,"  which  no- 
body can  name?  or  about  the  fancy  links  of  lies  which  connect 
whole  continents  together,  but  which  nobody  can  see  1  The  very 
idea  of  such  intermeddling  is  absurd.  One  might  as  well  say  that 
the  reliques  of  Priam,  or  the  treasures  of  Agamemnon,  were  pur- 
posely hidden  by  Dr  Schliemann  at  Troy  or  at  Mycenae,  that  Dr 
Schliemann  himself  might  afterwards  discover  them.  I  have  no 
such  reliques,  it  is  true,  no  treasures  of  gold  and  silver  to  assist  me 
in  this  Ossianic  investigation ;  but  I  have  the  reliques  of  nature 
herself,  and  the  reliques  of  nations  now  no  more,  equally  significant, 
to  support  me.  I  have  the  caves  and  the  hiding  places,  the  tombs 
and  the  monuments,  of  kings,  of  heroes,  of  princes,  and  princesses  ; 
I  have  magnificent  Caledonian  oaks  and  fragile  Roman  pottery, 
and  stone-hammers  and  canoes — entombed,  one  may  say  together, 
among  sea  sand  in  the  very  heart  of  a  great  city ;  I  have  the  surf 
of  the  retiring  sea  itself,  and  the  crumbling  banks  of  decaying 
rivers ;  I  have  the  very  beauty  spots  and  scars  on  nature's  own 
face,  and  the  ravages  of  fire  in  her  bosom — all  hitherto  unknown, 
hitherto  unsuspected — to  bear  testimony  to  the  truth  of  my  posi- 
tion ;  and  I  claim  now  to  be  thus  doing  for  Ossian  what  Dr 

F2 


84  TRANSACTIONS. 

Schliemann  has  done  for  Homer  and  ^Eschylus — the  only  real 
difference  being  this,  that  because  it  is  at  your  own  doors  and 
before  your  own  eyes,  and  with  reference  to  the  oldest  and  one  of 
the  most  glorious  types  of  your  own  national  existence,  you,  the 
people  of  Scotland  and  the  representatives  of  Ossian,  will  only  half- 
and-half  believe  it.  You  cannot,  it  seems,  realise  your  own  privi- 
lege ;  and  would  rather  have  a  lying  Macpherson,  just  clever 
enough  to  cheat  you,  to  your  own  disgrace,  than  a  genuine,  gifted 
Ossian,  heaven-taught  and  truthiul,  to  your  eternal  honour  I 
(Laughter  and  applause.) 

4.  But  what  Ossian  imagined  is  not  less  remarkable  than  what 
Ossian   said   and  saw  :  his   IMAGINATION,  however,  differed  from 
that  of  almost  all  other  poets,  inasmuch  as  for  himself  it  was  the 
highest  spiritual  reality.     It  consisted  not,  either  in  mere  figures 
of  speerV,  on  the  one  hand — which  are  common  to  all  poets  ;  or  in 
fabulous  exaggeration,  or  lying  invention  on  the  other — which  are 
peculiar  to   some.     He  uses   figures  of  speech  undoubtedly,   but 
these  were  only  as  similes  and  superlatives  of  the  loftiest  sort,  to 
represent  more  vividly  what  he  saw.     They  implied  no  effort  of 
imagination  on  his  own  part  at  all,  but  were  the  mere  exuberance 
of  eyesight,  so  to  speak,  converted  for  the   moment  into  speech. 
Far  less  did  he   indulge  in  flights  of  creative  fancy,  as  the  Irish 
Seanachies  incessantly  did — to  describe  what  never  happened,  to 
relate  what  he  never  saw.     We  have  no  monsters,  no  magicians, 
no  giants  or  ogres  among   his  dramatis  personce ;   no  incredible 
achievements,  no  mythical  stories,  no  impossible  events ;  no  out- 
rageous adventures,  no  contradictions  of  nature,  no  burlesques  upon 
fact  :  not  one  of  these.     The  most  wonderful  of  all  the  achievements 
related  in  his  text  wei  e  scientific  realities  only  half-understood,  and 
recorded  in  the  language  of  poetry — as  where  Fingal,  for  example, 
is  said  to  have  dislodged  with  his  spear  the  demon  of  electricity  in 
a  thunder-cloud  at  Carricthura.     The  region  where  Ossian's  imagi- 
nation displayed  itself  was  the   atmosphere — the   region   of  the 
clouds,  and  of  whatever  was  beyond  the  clouds ;  and  this  region, 
more  than  any  other  man  that  ever  looked  at  it,  he  has  made  his 
own.     His  fancy  dwelt  and  revelled  there  with  a  kind  of  creative 
prodigality,  and  peopled  it  for  himself  with  such  an  assemblage  of 
glorified  beings,  that  to  this  day  it  seems  to  be  tenanted  exclusively 
with  his  immortal  kindred.     This  occupation  of  the  heavens  by 
him  was  of  a  piece,  so  far,  with  the  invisible  world  of  the  ancients, 
but  it  was  fresher  and  finer,  and  could  never  have  been  borrowed 
from   them.     It  was  the   transformation    of  actual   atmospheric 


THE    AUTHENTICITY   OF    OSSIAJf.  85 

phenomena  within  sight  of  the  earth — of  clouds  and  vapour,  and 
flakes  of  fire,  and  wandering  sunbeams  in  their  endless  variety  of 
outlines — into  spiritual  entities  having  moral  and  emotional  affini- 
ties with  earth,  surveying  its  inhabitants  with  affectionate  interest, 
directing  their  actions,  inspiring  their  courage,  lamenting  their 
failures,  and  rejoicing  in  their  successes.  To  mere  materialistic 
readers  this  may  all  be  a  dream,  but  for  Ossian  it  was  a  vital 
faith  ;  for  Ossian  it  was  a  divine  reality.  Not  a  drift  drove  over 
him,  in  which  he  did  not  see  some  glorified  array  of  the  departed  ; 
not  a  cloud  hovered  nearer  the  earth,  from  which  some  sympathetic 
ghost  did  not  bend,  in  pride  or  sorrow,  over  the  funeral  pyre  or 
grave  of  some  fallen  relative ;  not  a  wreath  of  mist  unfolded  its 
bosom,  in  which  the  face  or  form  of  some  lost  loved  one — of  sister, 
daughter,  mother,  wife,  or  bride — was  not  revealed,  ineffably 
tender,  interceding  for  the  vanquished,  or  lamenting  the  dead. 
Not  a  vista  in  heaven  was  opened,  or  a  recess  in  the  distance 
illumined,  that  was  not  thronged  with  an  assemblage  of  heroes — 
among  whom  the  demigods  of  his  own  race  were  supreme — in 
council  for  the  advantage  of  their  children.  When  the  thunder 
shrieked,  it  was  a  warning  from  them  j  when  the  red  fire  ran  along 
the  hill,  ifc  was  a  message  from  them ;  when  the  lightning  flashed, 
it  was  help  from  them  j  when  the  clouds  dispersed  in  glory,  it  was 
triumph  among  them  ! — a  faith  in  which  he  so  far  resembled  David, 
with  this  important  difference — that  whereas  to  David's  eye  it  was 
all  an  actual  revelation,  or  direct  interposition  of  the  Deity ;  to 
Ossian's,  it  was  but  the  result  of  natural  affinities  expressed  by 
atmospheric  means.  The  atmosphere,  in  short,  was  heaven  for 
him,  where  the  highest  forms  of  human  existence  were  developed 
and  embodied  ;  for  David,  it  was  the  nearest  dwelling-place  of  the 
Most  High  God  :  a  difference  between  him  and  David  which 
Macpherson,  if  he  had  been  a  liar,  would  never  have  allowed  to 
appear.  Yet  so  far  was  Macpherson  from  realising  this,  that  he 
did  not  even  understand  it ;  and  some  of  the  finest,  most  delicate, 
and  touching,  as  well  as  sublime,  manifestations  of  Ossian's  genius, 
in  this  very  region  of  poetic  faith  and  vision,  have  been  misrepre- 
sented by  him  in  consequence. 

III. — In  conclusion,  what  may  be  called  the  HIGHER  MORALITY 
of  Ossian  was  founded  upon,  or  identified  with  the  approval,  with 
the  will,  with  the  sympathy  of  this  aerial  world — where  all  human 
deeds  were  to  be  judged  of,  and  to  which  only  the  noblest  and  the 
purest  spirits  could  rise.  His  common  morality,  so  to  speak — that 
is,  the  code  of  life  and  manners  he  represented  among  his  people — 


86  TRANSACTIONS. 

has  been  often  enough  quoted  and  relied  upon  indeed,  as  a  mere 
poetic  reproduction  of  the  morals  and  manners — of  the  civilisation, 
in  short,  of  the  eighteenth  century,  which  could  never  have  existed 
in  the  third ;  and  therefore  as  a  proof  of  falsehood,  or  of  fiction  at 
least  to  that  extent,  in  the  translation  of  his  remains.     But  if  by 
civilisation  in  the  eighteenth  century,  we  understand  the  civilisa- 
tion of  the  Georges  and  their  contemporaries ;  and  by  Christian 
morality  of  the  same  era,  the  Christianity  of  nine-tenths  of  Chris- 
tendom— such  as  then  prevailed,  for  example,  under  every  Govern- 
ment,and  in  almost  every  Court  of  Europe,  from  St.  Petersburg  to 
London — including   slave-dealing,  press-ganging,  kidnapping,   and 
indiscriminate    outrage  ;    commercial    knavery  ;    public,    private, 
national,  legal,  and  ecclesiastical  blackguardism  of  every  type  and 
dye  ;  political  despotism,  culminating  in  revolutions  that  shook  the 
earth  ;  a  political  serfdom  that  degraded  humanity  to  the  level  of 
the  brutes ;  and  revelations  of  indecency  in  domestic  life,  from  the 
palace  to  the  pavilion,  that  shocked  the  very  heavens — if  this  is 
the  sort  of  morality  referred  to,  one  may  thank  God  honestly  that 
Ossian  and  his  people,  with  all  their  paganism,  knew  nothing  about 
it ;  had  nothing  like  it ;  could  not  imagine  it ;  would  not  tolerate 
it ;  and  that  not  a  syllable — I  say  it  advisedly — not  a  syllable  is 
to  be  found,  from  beginning  to  end  of  his  text,  conniving  at  or 
excusing  it.      Where  conflicts  are  rehearsed  with  praise,  they  were 
in  a  fair  field ;  where  victory  is  proclaimed,  it  is  with  mercy  and 
even  with  honour  to  the  vanquished  ;  where  assassinations,  from 
jealousy  or  anger,  occur,  they  are  lamented,  condemned,  and  pun- 
ished ;  where  adultery  or  misconduct  is  proved,  the  parties  separate, 
and   the  wife  takes  the  wealth  away  with  her  that  she  brought. 
Honour,  magnanimity,  truth,  and  love  are  everywhere  extolled  as 
the  foundations  of  human  greatness,  prosperity,   and  happiness ; 
falsehood,  meanness,  trickery,  selfishness,  cowardice,  and  fraud,  are 
simply  reprobated  as  contemptible  everywhere  and  for  ever  !     That 
was  the  sort  of  morality  taught  by  Ossian  ;  and  would  to  God  the 
spirit  of  it  were  a  little  better  realised  in  what  we  now  call  civilisa- 
tion,  both  among    Christians   and  Turks — at    St.  Petersburg,  at 
Vienna,  at  Constantinople,  at  Rome  ;  among  the   frequenters  of 
the  Bourse  at  Paris,   among  the  members  of  the    stock-jobbing 
fraternity  of  London,  and  the   Railway-Rings  at  New  York  :  it 
would  be  better  for  us  all,  both  in  Europe  and  America.     But  the 
principle  of  morality  itself — the  guiding  principle  of  human  life — 
by  which  all  actions  were  to  be  regulated,  and  by  which  the  highest 
perfection  was  to  be  attained,  was  conformity  of  life  and  motive  to 


THE   AUTHENTICITY   OF   OSSIAN.  87 

the  characters,  to  the  example,  to  the  hopes  and  wishes,  to  the 
yearning  love  and  sympathy,  of  all  the  best  and  bravest  who  had 
gone  before ;  who  were  seated  there  among  the  clouds,  in  anxious 
council  for  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  their  descendants  ;  who 
shone  forth  resplendent  in  the  light  of  heaven,  as  examples  of  glory 
to  their  children ;  who  followed  them  with  wistful  eyes  from  above, 
in  every  combat  and  through  every  danger,  to  see  that  they  ac- 
quitted themselves  like  honourable  men ;  who  exulted  in  all  their 
triumphs,  where  their  triumphs  were  generous  and  brave  ;.  and 
who  opened  their  aerial  ranks  at  last,  to  receive  and  welcome  them 
when  they  fell  in  glory  !  It  was  thus  that  human  greatness  was 
cherished  by  Ossian  ;  thus  that  human  virtue  was  taught  by  him  ; 
thus  that  human  sorrow  was  consoled  in  his  sad  but  sublimest 
strains ;  and  thus  that  human  self  devotion  was  consecrated  and 
encouraged  for  the  honour  of  the  people,  and  for  the  practical 
salvation,  if  that  were  still  possible,  of  the  race.  Heroes  in  their 
lives  accepted  this  as  the  rule  of  their  actions,  and  heroes  already 
departed  ratified  it  in  heaven  with  their  approval.  "  Angels  ever 
bright  and  fair,"  are  not  more  truly  now  a  part  of  our  faith  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  than  this  grand  poetic  ideal  of  moral  perfection 
in  the  clouds,  with  aerial  embodiment  there,  was  a  part  of  Ossian's 
faith  in  the  third  ;  before  Christianity  was  known,  or  a  Divine 
Intercessor  within  the  veil  had  been  proclaimed  in  Western  Europe. 
As  truly  then  might  the  poor  Celtic  heathen  in  his  darkness  say — 
who  had  only  Ossian,  and  not  the  Apostle,  to  teach  him — "  Seeing 
that  we  also  are  compassed  about  with'  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses, 
let  us  lay  aside  every  weight  and  the  sin  that  may  most  easily  beset 
us  ;  and  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  of  self-sacrifice  that  is  S£t 
before  us,"  in  all  heroic  deed  and  in  all  manly  daring,  that  our 
fathers  may  behold  and  rejoice  !  Y"et  teaching  like  this  has  been 
called  the  teaching  of  a  liar ;  morality  like  this,  the  morality  of  a 
ruffian  and  a  cheat !  One  might  as  well  say  that  the  dream  of 
Joseph  realised  in  Egypt,  the  triumph  of  Esther,  and  the  reward 
of  Ruth  ;  the  visions  of  Ezekiel,  the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah,  or 
the  Expostulations  of  Job,  were  mediaeval  additions  to  the  Bible  ! 
(Cheers.) 

A  cordial  vote  of  thanks  was  awarded  to  Dr  Waddell  on  the 
motion  of  Mr  Jolly ;  and  a  vote  of  thanks  was  also  awarded  to  the 
Provost  for  taking  the  chair. 


N.B. — T/ie  copyright  of  this  lecture  is  reserved  by  the  Autlwr. 


TRANSACTIONS. 


25TH  JANUARY,  1877, 

At  this  meeting  the  Rev.  John  Eraser,  Free  Church  Minister 
of  Rosskeen,  was  elected  an  ordinary  member  of  the  Society.  The 
election  of  office-bearers  for  1#77  was  the  principal  business  before 
the  meeting. 

IST  FEBRUARY,  1877. 

• 

At  the  meeting  on  this  date,  the  Secretary,  in  behalf  of  Mr  P, 
G.  Tolmie,  3  Great  Woodstock  Street,  Nottingham  Place,  London, 
read  the  following  paper  in  Gaelic  on 

REMAINS   OF  ANCIENT  RELIGION  IN  THE  NORTH. 

CHA  'n  eil  ach  tearc  de  dh-iarmad  nan  amanna  cein  mu  thim- 
chioll  am  bheil  beachdan  dhaoine  foghluimte  ni's  eas-aonaichte  na 
mu  chuid  de  na  h'  aitreibhean  cloiche  tha  ri  fhaicinn,  cha  'n  e  a 
mhain  air  feadh  na  tire  so,  ach  anns  gach  cearna  ach  beag  d'  an 
chruinne-che.  Tha  iad  sud  a  dh-iomadh  seorsa — am  measg  am 
faodar  ainmachadh  a'  chrom-leac,  a'  chistbhan,  a  chuairteag  no 
'n  clachan,  an  earn,  's  mar  sin  sios.  Agus  tha  samhuil  againn  dhe 
gach  aon  dhiu  so  'n  iomadh  aite  air  feadh  na  duthcha. 

Tha  caochladh  barail  am  measg  arsairean  mu  dheighein  na 
crich  araidh  air  son  an  do  thogadh  cuid  dhiubh  air  tus.  A  reir 
breth  iomadh,  bha  dluth-cheangal  aca  ri  crabhadh  an  t-sluaigh  ;  air 
chor  's  nach  'eil  iad  an  teagamh  bhi  ag  radh  gur  ann  o  sin  tha  a' 
cfyrom-leac  toirt  a  h-ainn — an  leac  fa  chomhair  an  robh  muintir  a' 
cromadh,  no  chlacJ^shleuchdaidh — agus  tha  iad  gu  cumanta  ag 
ainmeachadh  na  cloiche  so,  cho  maith  ri  priorch-chlach  na  cuairte, 
mar  altair,  no  leac-iobairt ;  agus  uime  sin  's  minig  a  bhitheas  mac- 
meanmna  sealltainn  orra  mar  gu'in  b'  aun  a'  sruthadh  sios  le  fuil 
dhuine  's  ainmhidh.  Ach  cha  'n  'eil  e  idir  lan-shoilleir  gu'm  bheil 
an  sin,  an  cuid  mhor,  ach  dealbh-inntinn  gun  bhonn.  Tha  e 
cheana  fior  gu'n  robh  a'  chlac/i-s/ieasaimh  agus  gu  h-araidh  an 
clachan  a'  deanamh  an  gniomhaich  mar  aitean-aoraidh ;  ach  cha  'n 
'eil  e  dearbh-chinnteach  eadhon  mu'n  deighinn-san  gu'm  b'  ann  air 
son  so  a  chaidh  an  cur  suas  an  toiseach. 

Tha  e  na  aobhair  doilgheis  nach  'eil  seann  e.ichdraidh  duthcha 
sam  bith  fa-lei  h  a'  laimhseachadh  nithe  mar  so  ach  mi-thoirtefl  ;  no 
toirt  iomraidh  air  seann  ghnathan  an  t-sluaigh,  anns  na  linnean 
chaidh  tharais  o  chionn  fhad,  cho  soillseach  's  bu  mhia"nn  leinn — 


REMAINS    OF    ANCIENT    RELIGION.  89 

gidheadh,  le  bhi  tional  's  a'  cnuasachadh  chomharraidhean  's  rabh- 
aidh-eolais  tha  tachairt  ruinn  thall  's  a  bhos,  tha  e  comasach 
dhuinn,  le  beagan  dichill,  a  bhi  faotainn  soluis  ciiimsich  air  a' 
ghnothach,  agus  a  thaobh  ouid  a  phuingean,  a  bhi  ruigsinn,  maith 
a  dh'  fheudta,  sar-chinnteis. 

Anis,  gun  bhi  gabhail  os  laimh  an  drasta  bhi  toirt  mion-chunntais 
air  gach  aon  air  leth,  faodair  a  radh  an  coitchiontas,  gu'm  b'  e  'n 
t-aobhar  sonruichte  air  son  togail  a  leithid  so  dh'aitreibh  air  tus  (a 
chuairte  amhain  an  leth  a  muigh)  gu  bhi  na'n  comharraidh-cuimhne 
— 's  e  sin  ri  radh,  gu  bhi  mar  fhianuisean  faicsinneach,  bho  linn 
gu  linn,  air  gniomharan  fiuthail,  air  buaidhean  iomraiteach,  air 
tubaistean  craidhteach,  no  air  tuiteamais  iongantach  sam  bith. 
Tha  e  car  duilich  dhuinne  's  an  la  'n  diugh,  cleachdte  mar  tha  sinn 
ri  sgriobhaidhean  is  leabhraichean,  bhi  meas  air  nihodh  iomchuidh, 
ce  cho  feumail  'sa  bha  innleachd  dhe  leithid  so  gu  bhi  gleidheadh 
cuimhne  air  nithibh  airidh,  air  feadh  linntean  tur-aineolach  air 
leughadh,  agus  gu  bhi  toirt  cion-fath  do  na  seanachaidh  bhi  ag 
aithris  do  'n  oigridh  gniomharan  agus  cleachdainnean  an  athraich- 
ean.  Agus  is  amhuil  mar  sin  tha  Oisean  a'  toirt  fo  'r  comhair 
oganaich  a'  feoraich  d'an  t-sean  nihuinntir  mu  'chlach-chinn  fhein — 

"  Labhraidh  e  mu  chloich  an  raoin, 
Agus  freagraidh  an  aois  r'  a  iarraidh — 
So  an  liath-chlach  thog  Oisean  nach  faoin, 
Sar-cheannard  rnu  'n  d'  aom  na  bliadhna." 

Bheireadh  so  air  an  ogarach  os-barr  bhi  feoraich,  Co  e  Oisean  bha 
'n  sin  1  a,g\is  ciod  e  mu  dheighinn-san  7  agus  mar  so  toirt  cothroim 
do  'n  t-sean  duine  gu  bhi  'g  ath-aithris  sgeul  an  laoich  's  a'  toirt 
lan-iomraidh  air  a  bheatha  's  a  bhuadhan. 

So  cuideachd  an  dearbh  reusan,  mar  tha  sinn  a'  foghlum  bho 
'n  t-seann  Tiomnadh,  tha  losua  toirt  d'a  mhuinntir  fein  air  son  a 
bhi  togail  charragh  ;  gu.  bhi  mar  mhathair-aobhair  dhoibh  a  bhi 
ag  ath-aithris  sgeul  an  athraichean  do  'n  cloinn,  's  mar  sin  a'  toirt 
seacbad  eachdraidh  a'  chinne  bho  al  gu  al. 

Ach  gu  bhi  cail-eigin  ni's  eagnuidhj  thugamaid  fainear  a' 
chlach-sheasaimh  no  'n  carragh.  B'  i  so,  a  reir  coslais,  a'  cheud 
aitreibh  a  chuir  duine  suas  a  bharr  air  tigh-comhnuidh,  's  tha  i 
uirne  sin  anabarrach  sean.  Agus  tha  mi  deanamh  dheth  nach  'eil 
fath  teagaimh  nach  ann  mar  chomharradh  air  ni-eigin  ion-chuimh- 
neachail  a  chaidh  a  cur  suas  an  toiseach.  An  cursa  tiom,  thainig 
i  gu  bhi  riarachadh  mar  ionad-aoraidh,  no  seapail.  Na  bitheadh  e 


90  TRANSACTIONS. 

idir  neonach  leibh  bhi  ag  radh  seapail  ri  aon  chloich.  Oir  cho 
fada  's  bha  'n  sluagh  tearc  an  a'ireimh,  sgapte  air  aghaidh  na 
duthcha,  gabhail  comhnuidh  fad  o  cheile,  agus  roar  sin,  bochd  is 
anfhann  mar  chinnich,  cha  robh  e  na  'n  comas  ni's  mo  na  bha  e  na 
chleachdadh  aca  bhi  togail  arois  sgiamhach  air  son  feum  crabhaidh. 
Agus  a  bharr  air  sin,  bha  iad  gu  curnanta  coimhlionadh  an  dleasan- 
ais  dhiadhaidh  mu  thiomchioll  an  teallaich.  Oir  cha  bu  ghnath 
dhoibh  bhi  tional  cuideachd  gu  aoradh  coitchionnta,  agus  ge  be 
aite  bha  iad  a'  cur  air  leth  mar  aite  naomh,  bha  gach  neach  a'  dol 
leis  fein  dh'  ionnsuidh  an  ionaid  choisrigte  sin  le  iaratas  no  le 
buidheachas,  uair  sain  bith  a  thigeadh  fodha — air  choir  's  gu'n 
deanadh  aon  chlach  an  gnothaah  mar  aite  comhdhail  cho  maith  ris 
an  teampul  bu  riomhaiche.  Agus  bha  aobhar  araidh  eile  air  son 
an  robh  aitean  aoraidh  fosgailt  ri  aghaidh.  nan  speur,  dha  'm  bi 
sinn  a  toirt  an  aire  gu  h-ath-ghearr. 

A  nis  ged  nach  robh  anns  na  clachan  so  air  tus  ach  comhar- 
raidhean,  tha  e  furasda  bhi  tuigsiun  cia  mar  thigeadh  muinntir, 
an  uine  ghearr,  gu  bhi  saoilsinn  gu'n  robh  iad  a'  sealbhachadh 
bhuadhan  sonruichte  annta  fein,  dluth-cheangailte  mar  bha  iad  na 
'n  cuimhne  ri  nithe  comharraichte,  agus  gu  bhi  'g  amharc  orra 
mar  ionadan  aig  an  robh  lathaireachd  a  chuspair-aoraidh  a  comh- 
nuidh  air  mhodh  araidh — agus  uime  sin  far  am  biodh  aoradh  ni  bu 
taitniche  dhasan  agus  ni  bu  bhuanachdaile  dhoibh  fein,  na  'n  aite 
sam  bith  eile.  Agus  mar  a  dh'  fhaodar  a  shaoilsinn,  o  bhi  cur 
eifeachd  as  leth  ni  corparra,  cha  robh  'n  uidhe  ach  goirid  bu  bhi 
meas  an  ni  fein  mar  dhearbh  chuspair-aoraidh.  Tha  lan-dhearbh- 
adh  a^ainn  gu  'n  robh  ar  seann  luchd-duthcha  cleachdadh  a  bhi 
sleuchdadh  fa  chomhair  nan  clachan-seasaimh,  agus,  aig  aman,  a' 
tairgseadh  ofrail  bhig  de  thoradh  na  talmhuinn,  gu  bhi  faotainn  an 
iarrtais  ni  b'ullaimh  bho  spiorad-gleidhidh  an  aite.  Tha  fianuis 
againn  air  so  'n  Sasunn  am  measg  iomadh  eile  ann  an  reachd  le 
righ  Chanuit  (Canute),  's  an  aon-ceud-deug,  anns  am  bheil  e  toir- 
measg  a  chJeachdaidh  gu  h-iomlan.  Ach  's  fada  'n  deigh  sin  a  bha 
e  mu  'n  deach  an  cleachdadh  suarrach. 

Tha  clach  chomharraichte  dhe  leithid  so  an  sgire  Srath  's  an 
Eilean  Sgiathanach,  carragh  garbh  ris  an  can  iad  "  Clach-na-h- 
Annait,"  laiinh  ris  am  bheil  fuaran  dha  'n  ainm  Tobar-na-h-Annait, 
tobar  a  bha  muinntir  na  duthcha,  nuas  ach  beag  gus  an  latha  'n 
diugh,  meas  ion-eifeachdach  gu  leigheas  gach  gne  easlainte.  Bha 
a'  chlach  so  ma  tha  coisrigte  do  'n  bhan-dia  Annat  a  thathar  ag 
aithneachadh  fo  chaochladh  ainm  an  caochladh  aite — fo  ainrn  Bhrid 
an  eilean  He,  agus  Shony  ann  an  Leoghas.  Tha  Oisean  a  dean- 


REMAINS    OF    ANCIENT    RELIGION.  91 

amh  iomraidh  air  a  leithid  so  chloich  gu  minig — mar  so — "  Chlach 
Loduin  nam  fuar  thaibhs  " — B'i  sin  clach  a  bha  coisrigte  do  Loduin, 
mar  bha  clich-na-h-Annait  do  dh-Annat.  Agus  a  rithist  : — 

"  Bha  righ  Chraca 
An  crom  Bhmmo  nam  mor  thorn. 
Bha  'n  sonn  an  cainnt  ri  clach  nam  fuath." 

'S  e  sin,  bha  'n  sonn  a'  guidhe,-air  neo  'g  iarraidh  taisbean  o  thaobh 
"  clath  nam  fuath."  B'  i  chlach-sheasaimh  comharradh-aoraidh  na 
greine  agus  mar  sin  samhladh  Apollo,  ughdar  faisneachd,  agus  esan 
a  bha  toir,  eolais  do  dhaoine  air  nithe  diomhair.  Oir  mar  tha 
ghrian  le  gathanna  soilleir  a  faadach  dorachadas  na  h-oidhche, 
soillseachadh  aghaidh  naduir  agus  a'  toirt  gach  ni  am  follais,  's 
amhuil  mar  sin  a  bha  'n  dia  soillseachadh  na  h-inntinn  's  a'  toirt 
roimh-aithne  air  nithe  ri  teachd.  Agus  uime  sin,  bhithid  a  taghal 
air  a'  charragh  gu  bhi  faotainn  taisbean,  gu  h-araidh  ma  bha  fuaran 
laimh  ris. 

Tha  na  clachan  so  lionmhor  air  feadh  eileanan  Alba,  Wales, 
agus  Chornwall  agus  iomadh  tir  eile,  ach  gu  h-araidh  anns  na  cearna 
dhe  'n  Roinn-Eorpa  anns  an  robh  cinnich  Ghaidhealach  a'  gabhail 
comhnuidh. 

Tha  e  soilleir  dhuinn  cuideachd  gu'n  robh  fineachan  Arabia 
cleachdadh  a  bhi  deanamh  aoraidh,  nuas  gu  am  an  fhaidh 
Mohammed.  Agus  ged  bu  rnhor  ughdarras-san  na'm  measg,  cha 
robh  e  na  chomas,  re  a  la,  an  t-iodhal-aoradh  so  chur  fodha  gu 
h-iomlan.  Agus  tha  e  feuchaimi  dhuinn  cia  cho  deacair  's  tha  e  do 
mhuinntir  a  bhi  gu  builleach  ga  'n  sgaradh  fhein  o  chleachdaidhean 
crabhach,  eadhon  an  deigh  dhoibh  an  seann  chreideamh  a  threi- 
geadh,  gu  'm  bheil  fuigheall  dheth  air  a  ghleidheadh  fathast  an 
teampull  Mhecca.  Is  e  so  gun  teagamh  am  nor  bhun-sinnsir  aig 
a'  chloich  dhuibh  san  teampull  ud,  a  tha  luchd-leanmhuinn  Mho- 
hammed  a'  cunntadh  cho  ion-luachmhor,  ged  a  tha  iad  a'  toirt  tuar- 
sgeil  eile  mu  deigheinn  an  diugh.  Agus,  os-barr,  's  fiu  a  thoirt 
fainear  gur  ann  o  'n  chloch  so  tha  iad  a'  gairm  an  teampuill,  Beit- 
Allah  (Bethel — Tigh  Dhe).  Agus  is  amhuil  mar  an  ceudna  bha  iad  a' 
goireadh  nan  clachan  seasaimh  an  Eirinn  o  shean  Botliail,  's  e  sin. 
tighean  Dhe.  Tha  'n  t-Ollamh  Lee  (the  late  Dr  Lee.  of  Cambridge), 
ag  radh  gu'n  robh  iad  o  chionn  ghoirid  a'  leantuinn  a'  chleachaidh 
cheudna  am  fagus  do  Edrisi,  ann  an  eilean  air  taobh  shios  nan 
Innseachan,  far  an  robh  e  mar  gnath  aca  bhi  coisrigeadh  na  cloiche 
le  oladh,  direaA  mar  a  rinn  lacob  a'  chlach  a  chuir  e  suas  air 


92  TRANSACTIONS. 

machair  Luz,  'miair  a  bha  e  dol  air  fogradh — 'n  trath  sin  mar 
chuimhneachan  air  a  dheadh  ruin,  ach  dhe  'n  d'rinn  e  bliadhna 
'n  deigh  sin  tigh-aeraidh  dha  fein  agus  d'  a  theaghlach  na  dheigh, 
agus  dha  'n  d'thug  e  mar  ainm  Bethel  (Tigh  Dhe).* 

Tha  'n  Seann  Tiomnadh  a'  toirt  fo  ar  'n  aire  gu  minig,  c'  arson 
a  chaidh  carraigh  a  chur  suas  an  toiseaoh  am  measg  nan  Eabh- 
ruidheach — agus  a'  leigeadh  ris  dhuinn  cia  mar  thainig  muinntir  gu 
bhi  dha  'n  cur  am  mi-bhuil.  Bhathar  ga  'n  togail  gu  bhi  na  'n 
comharraidh-cuimhne  's  na  'm  fianuisean  air  nithe  cudthromach  do 
na  h-ail  ri  teachd.  Ach  thainig  iad,  an  tamul  beag,  gu  bhi  na  'n 
cion-fath  iodhal-aoraidh  do  'n  t-sluagh,  ga  'n  taladh  gu  cleachdaidh- 
ean  saobh-chiabhaidh,  ris  an  do  dhian-lean  iad  gu  am  na  braigh- 
deanais,  a  dh-aindeoin  gach  bagraidh  lagh  's  earalachaidh  faidh. 
Agus  cha  'n  'eil  mise  faicinn  aobhair  airidh  sam  bith  a  bhi  comh- 
dhunadh  gu  'n  robh  ceud-thoiseach  ionann  aitreibh  air  dhoigh  eug- 
samhuil  am  measg  fhine  sam.  bith  eile. 

A  nia  mu  thiomchioll  na  crom-lic,  's  na  ciste-bain,  's  an  earn — 
tha  iad  so  uile  'ghnath  a  chomharrachadh  aitean  adhlacaidh.  Cha 
'n  'eil  eadar-dhealachadh  sam  bitli  eile  eadar  a'  chromleac  's  a'  chis- 
te-bhan  ach  so,  gu'n  robh  a'  chiste-bhan  air  a  folach  fo  'n  talamh, 
co  dhiiu  a  b'  ann  fo  thorn  no  fo  charn,  agus  a'  chromleac  an  comh- 
nuidh  air  uachdar  an  talaimh.  B'  e  an  t-ordugh  suidhichte  ceithir 
chlachan  seasaimh,  air  an  cur  ceithir-chearnach  agus  a'  chromleac 
na  luidhe  os  an  cinn.  Ach  's  e  'n  riaghailt  a  bhathar  a'  leantuinn 
gu  cumanta  's  an  duthaich  so,  tri  chlachan  seasaimh,  ged  'bha  'n 
uaigh  math  gu  leor  le  dha. 

"  Da  chloich  gu  an  leth  anns  an  uir, 
An  coinneach  fo  smuir  air  an  raoin  " — 

mar  tha  Oisean  ag  radh  an  CartJionn. 

Tha  mion-chunntais  againn  o  chionn  ghoirid  bho  Fhrangach 
foghlumte  bha  siubhal  an  Algeria,  air  aon  aite  anns  an  d'  thainig 
e  air  corr  's  ceithir  fichead  dhiubh,  a  chuid  mhor  na'n  seasamh 
fathast,  air  blar  mu  mheud  deich  no  dusan  acair.  Agus  bha  iad 
uile  air  'n  aon  doigh,  ceithir  nan  seasamh  agus  leac  air  an  uachdar. 

*  Note  from   Dr  Ruppell's  travels  in   Abyssinia,    1828. — "I  had  an 

opportunity  of  noticing  a  curious  relic  of  old  pagan  worship, 

women  from  the  neighbouring  villages  assembled  in  considerable  numbers  at 
a  spring  which  gushed  up  under  a  clump  of  trees — washed  their  hands  and 
feet  in  the  water ;  then  prostrated  themselves  before  a  rough-hewn  cube  of 
freestone.  ...  I  could  get  no  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  ceremony." 


IIEMAIXS    OF    ANCIENT    RELIGION.  93 

Gun  teagamli  sam  bith  is  e  aite  adhlacaidh  bha  'n  sin.  Ach  tha 
'n  leithid  ceudna  lionnanor  anns  na  h-Innseachan,  an  Arabia,  's  an 
Siria.  Agus  tha  so  a'  dearbhadh  dhuinn  gu'n  robh,  o  chian^n'neachas 
dluth  agus  aonachd  ghnathan  's  bheacbdan  ead  ar  cinnich  'tha  'n 
Jiugh  fad  o  cheile  agus  eu-cosmhail  'n  creidimh  's  an  cleachdaidh- 
ean. 

Is  ann  a  mhaim  do  dhaoine  inbheach  's  do  ghaisgich  anmeil  a 
bhthar  a'  togail  uaighean  maireannach  mar  so,  gu  bhith  cumail  an 
cliu  's  an  iomraidh  fo  sgaoil.  'S  uime  sin  tha  Conall  ag  radh  an 
Carthonn,  na'm  faodadh  e  bhith  gu'n  tuiteadh  e  's  a'  chath  : — 

"  Ach  togsa  m'  uaigh, 

Chridh-mhor  nam  buadh.     Biodh  liath-charn 
'Us  meall  de  'n  uir  air  taobh  nan  stuadh, 
A  chur  m'  ainm  's  mo  chliu  troimh  am." 

Bhathar  a'  tiodhlacadh  laoch  le  'n  armachd,  agus  a'  cur  na'n  coia 
nithe  sam  bith  eile  'bha  miaghail  aca,  no  'bhuineadh  air  leth  do'n 
dreuchd.  So  cleachdadh  a  bha  rnoran  fhineachan  a'  leantuinn. 
Arsa  Ajax,  an  deigh  dha  chlaidheainh  a  thiomnadh  dha  mhac  :  — 

"  Theid  m.'  armachd  eile  fo  ^n  uir  mar  rium." 

— Soph.  Ajax. 

'Sann  ri  so  tha  'm  faidh  aig  amharc  'san  earruinn  so  (Eseciel  32.27). 
"  Agus  cha  luidh  iad  leis  na  cumhachdaich,  a  thuit  do  na  neo- 
thiomchioll-ghearrta,  a  chaidh  sios  do  ifrinn  (i.e.,  do  'n  uaigh)  le  'n 
armaibh  cogaidh."  Tha  e  coslach  cuideachd  gu  'n  robh  na  h-Eabh- 
ruidhich  a'  coimhead  a'  chleachdaidh  so  na  'm  measg  fein  uair-eigin  ; 
a  reir  mar  a  tha  e  air  a  radh  ECU  losua  (los.  24.30).  "Agus  dh' 
adhlaic  iad  e  ann  an  crich  oighreachd  fein  ann  an  Timnat-Serah." 
Ach  tha  'm  Bioball  Greugais  (the  Septuagint)  a'  car  ri  sin,  mar 
so—"  Agus  chuir  iad  an  sin  maille  ris  anns  an  uaigh  aims  an  d' 
adhlaic  iad  e,  na  sgeanan  cloiche  leis  an  do  thiomchioll-ghearr  e 

cloinn  Israel  aig  Gilgal Agus  tha  iad  an  sin  gus  an 

la  'n  diugh." 

Bha  cinnich  nan  duthcha  tuath  gle  churamach  a  bhi  mar  so  ag 
onorachadh  an  curaidhean  's  an  cinn-fheadhna  inbheach,  agus  a' 
togail  thuama  mora  dhoibh.  ( Wormius.  Dan.  Monuments^*  Bha 

*  "  Harold  employed  a  whole  army  and  a  vast  number  of  oxen  in. 
dragging  one  huge  stone  to  adorn  the  monument  of  his  mother."  Borlase 
Ant.  of  Cornwall. 


94  TRANSACTIONS. 

meudachd  na  tuama,  mar  ghnath,  an  coimeas  ri  iubh  an  neach  a 
dh'  f  halbh. 

Bha  'n  earn,  am  measg  nam  fineachan  Greugaich  amhuil  mar 
am  measg  nan  Eabhruidheach,  na  chomharradh-maslaidh,  agus  mar 
sin  a'  nochdadh  far  an  deach  closach  eucoireach  uamhair  air  choir- 
eigin  a  thilgeadh,  mar  bha  Achan,  agus  Laius  a  mharbhadh  leis  an 
tubaisteir  (Edipous,  mar  gu  'm  be  fear-reubainn  a  bh'  ann.  Tha 
sean-fhocail  na  'r  measg  fathasb  a  tha  feuchuinn  nach  robh  an 
cleashdadh  so  neo-aithnichte  am  Breatuinn — mar  so,  "  Fear  air 
charn"  (an  outlaw) — "  B'  fhearr  learn  a  bhi  fo  charn  ohlach,  &c." 
Ach  ann  an  Wales,  cha  'n  'eil  mallachd  a'  tighinn  a  beul  duine  is 
oillteile  na  so — "  Carn  air  do  cheann."  Ach  is  ann  air  chuimhne 
neach  inbheil  no  ceann-feachd  urramach  bha  cinnich  nan  tirean. 
tuath  gu  cumanta  togail  charn.  Agus  is  ann  o  sin  a  tha  an  radh 
so  againn — "  Cuiridh  mi  clach  air  do  charn  " — is  e  sin,  bithidh 
mi,  mar  bu  dual  dhomh  bhi  buintinn  ri  duine  coir,  a'  cur  ri  do 
chliu  an  deigh  do  bhais. 

Ach  cha  b'  ann  an  aon  la  chaidh  an  earn  ni's  mo  na  baile  na 
Roimh,  a  thogail.  B'  e  dleasannas  gach  neach  a  rachadh  seachad 
a  bhi  leasachadh  an  torr  gu  h-araidh  am  fad  's  a  bha  cuimhne  air  a 
mhathair-aobhar,  air  neo  bha  e  coltach  nach  b'  fhada  gus  am 
bitheadh  aithreachas  air  air  son  a  mhi-thoirt.  Oir  b'e  am  beachd 
gu  'n  robh  taibhse  an  duine  mhairbh  a'  taghal  a  ris  agus  aig  iadhadh 
mun  'charn,  gu  h-araidh  an  dubhar  na  h-oidhche ;  agus  uime  sin, 
gu'm  b'e  gliocas  an  fhir  a  shuibhladh  ni-eigin  a  chur  air.  Tha 
maighstir  Armstrong,  ughdar  an  Fhoclair  Ghaidhlig,  ag  radh  gu 
'n  robh  an  fhaoineachd  so  cho  suidhichte  na  'inntinn  's  nach  do 
ghabh  e  air  riamh  a  dhol  seachad  air  earn,  a  bha  'm  fagus  d'  a  aite- 
comhnuidh  'n  uair  bha  e  na  ghuillan,  gu  h-araidh  's  an  anmoch, 
gun  chlachag  a  thilgeil  air  '11  a  chabhaig. 

Ach  a  rithist — bhathar  aig  aman  a'  togail  charn  an  onair  nam 
fear  a  thuit  am  blar,  's  a  chaidh  fhagail,  co  dhiubh  'b  ann  le  eiginn 
no  'thaobh  tuitearaais,  dh'easbhuidh  adhlaicidh ;  air  eagal  's  gu'm 
bitheadh  anman  nan  laoch  chion  fois,  air  faontradh  mu'n  cuairt  na 
'n  tacharain  chianail  mar  bha  taibhse  Thrathuil,  a  reir  a'  bhaird — 

"  Ach  's  leir  leat,  a  sholuis  an  la, 
Taibhse  Thrathuil  na  cheo  glas." 

Oir  'dh  easbhuidh  caradh  ciatach  agus  tiodhlaiceadh  freagarrach  an 


REMAINS    OF   ANCIENT    RELIGION.  95 

uaigh,  's  coslach  nach  bitheadh  am  fois  samhach,   sitheil.     'Sana 
ri  sin  tha  'm  bard  aig  amharc  's  an  rann  so,  an  Temora : — 

"  A  Charuill,  chinn-fheadhna  nan  laim, 
Gabhsa  bard,  's  tog  an  uaigh  : 
A  nochd  bidh  Conal  fo  phramh 
'N  a  thigh  caol  gun  leus  an  suain." 

Agus,  os-barr,  mas  bitheadh  anam  aon  dhe  na  laoich  a  thuiteadh 
"  air  seachran  an  ciar  na  gaoithe,"  tha  e  'g  radh  : — 

"  Tog  clachan  fo  bhoillsge  'tha  fann 
Doibhse  uile  thuit  thall  's  a'  bhlar," 

oir  so  leibh  mar  thachair  do  chuid  a  chaidh  dhearmad  : — 
"  O  na  neoil  tha  dluth  mu'n  cuairt, 
Chithear  tannais  nan  sonn  a  dh'fhalbh." 

A  nis  ged  nach  'eil  e  furasda  bhi  comh-dhearbhadh  gu  soilJeir 
ciod  am  beachd  a  bha  aig  ar  seann-sinnsir  mu  chor  an  anaim  an 
deigh  bais,  bha  iad  a'  lan-chreidsinn  gu  'n  robh  e  an  comas  aog  an 
neach  a  dh'fhalbh  a  bhi  tighinn  air  ais,  's  a'  tathaich  mu'n  uaigh 
fada  'n  deigh  dha  falbh.  Bha  so,  ma's  a  fior,  a  feuchainn  gu'n 
robh  ni-eigin  a'  cur  luasgain  air,  no  gu'n  robh  cuis-ghearan  aige 
'dh'fheumadh  e  bhi  comh-phairteachadh  ris  na  beo  mus  faidh- 
eadh  e  fois.  Is  e  so  bun-sinnsir  a  bheachd  sin  tha  bitheanta 
fathast  am  measg  nan  Gaidheal,  gu'n  robh  tasg  an  duine  mhairbh, 
tacan  mu'n  d!  eug  e,  na  dhearbh-chruth  's  eugasg,  a'  dol  roimhe 
dh'  ionnsuidh  na  h-uaighe,  a'  caoineadh  gu  cianail,  amhuil  mar 
ghnomhan  an  eugnaich,  agus  aig  uairean  a'  toirt  sgal  ghoirt  a 
bheireadh  oillt  air  na  chluinneadh  e.  Agus  is  fada  nan  cian  o'n 
bha  beachd  mar  so  measg  mhuinntir ;  oir  tha  Homer  ag  radh  mu 
dheighinn  suinn  a  thuit  an  cath  : — 

"  Chaidh  'anam  le  geur  sgread  sios  mar  cheo  do'n  uaigh." 

Is  ionann  mar  sin  a  their  iad  gus  an  la  diugh  an  taobh  tuath 
Shasuinn — an  aite  bhi  'g-radh  gu'rn  fac  na  gu'n  cual  iad  an  tasg, 
's  e  their  iad,  "chunnaic  mi  waff"  (that  is,  without  doubt,  the 
whiff,  or  the  last  breath) — an  ceo  glas." 

Bhitheamaid  a  nis  a'  tiomulaidh  ar  'n  aire  car  sealain  ris  a 
chuairte.  Dheth  uile  aitreibh  ar  sinnsir,  is  i  so  air  iomadh  doigh 


9  TRANSACTIONS. 

is  ro-iomraidiche  agus  is  mo  tha  'n  comhnuidh.  dusgadh  iongaiitais 
's  a'  brosnachadh  sgrudadh  sgoilearan.  Agus,  co  dhiubh  'tha  'n 
t-ainm  ceart  no  dochair,  thathar  a  nis  le  co-aontachadh  cumanta  ga 
gairm,  "  Teainpuill  Dhruidh."  Tha  feadhainn  dheth  na  teampuill 
so  ion-chomharraichte  air  son  meud  agus  ailte  na  togalaich,  mar 
tha  Carnac  am  Brittane — Stonehenge — Calernish  an  Leoghas — 
Stennis  an  Arcamh — a'  taisbeanadh  seoltachd  mhoir  agus  ealantas 
air  taobh  nam  fear  ceairde  'thog  iad  ;  air  uthart  's  gun  robh  muinn- 
tir  an  linntean  an  aineolais  dearbhte  gu'm  b'  ann  le  buidseachd,  no 
le  cobhair  an  deamhain  chaidh  an  togail. 

Bha  chuairt  a'  riarachadh  caochladh  gnothaich.  Is  ann  aice  bha 
ard-chomhairle  a  chinneadh  a  coinneaehadh  agus  a  cur  ghnoth- 
aicliean  riaghlaidh  an  ordugh,  agus  a  bhathar  cuideachd  a  fritheal- 
adh  ard  fheillean  solaimte  na  bliadhna.  Agus,  mar  tha  ranns- 
achadh  arsairean  o  chionn  ghoirid  a  cuir  thar  teagamh,  bhi  a 
suidheachadh  an  comhnuidh  air  run  a  bhi  na  h-inneal  cuideachaidh 
do  speur-eolas.  Agus  's  ann  o  dheas-ghnathan  comh-cheangailte 
rithe  dh'eirich  na  faoin-bheachdan  's  fhaide  tha  mairsinn  am  measg 
an  t-sluaigh  agus  na  cleachdaidhean  's  deireannaich  a  tha  iad  a' 
leigeadh  dhiubh. 

Bha  chuairt  air  mhodh  sonraichte,  na  h-ionad  naomh,  coisrigte 
do  aoradh  an  teine  no,  mar  a  theirear,  aoradh  na  greine — do  bhrigh 
's  gur  i  ghrian  am  foillseachadh  is  aluinne  'san  domhan  dhe 
maitheas  an  Fhreasdail,  agus  an  samhladh  as  oirdheirce  dhe  'n 
t-solus  neo-chruthaichte.  Agus  's  ann  air  son  sin  'bha  i  fosgailte  ris 
an  athar,  agus  togte  air  fireach  no  air  blar  reidh,  gus  am  bithid  a 
faicsinn  eirigh  agus  luidhe  na  greine  o  n;eadhon.  Bhathar  mu 
dheireadh,  an  aitean,  ga  dunadh  's  a  cuir  mullaich  oirre.* 

'Sann  aig  a  chuairt  a  bha  reachdan  ur  dha  'n  cuir  a  mach,  'bha 
laghan  dha  'n  deanamh  follaiseach,  'bha  righrean  's  flaithean  dha'n 
taghadh  agus  a'  gabhail  seilbh  gu  follaiseach  air  an  dreuchdan. 
Tha  Dr  Clarke,  na  thuras  an  righeachd  na  Suain,  a'  toirt  iomraidh 
air  cuairt  mhor  a  tha  laimh  ri  Upsal,  seann  phriomh-bhaile  na 
righeachd,  do  'n  ainm  Morasteen  (Clachaii  a  nihonaidh)  agus  ag 
innseadh  dhuinn  gu  robh  righrean  na  duthcha  'ghnath  air  an 
taghadh  agus  air  an  an  coisrigeadh  an  sin,  a  nuas  gu  am  a  tha 
faisg  dhuinn.  Agus  bha  an  righ,  an  deigh  dhoibh  a  roghnachadh, 
a  gabhail  a  sheasaimh  air  a'  chloich  mhoir  am  rneadhon  na  cuairte, 
'n  lathair  a'  cho-chruinneachaidh  na  'n  seasanih  tiomchioll  #gus  an 

*  The  Pantheon  at  Rome,  consecrated  to  Christian  worship  in  the  eighth 
century,  and  the  Temple  of  Vesta,  were  originally  circles  like  Stonehenge, 
devoted  to  sun-worship.  A  few  round  churches  still  remaining  in  England 
had  probably  a  similar  origin. 


REMAINS    OF    ANCIENT    RELIGION.  97- 

sin  a  toiv  nan  geallaidhnean  dligheach  's  a'  gabhail  ughdarrais 
riaghlaidh  o  laimli  an  t-sluaigb.  Agus  tha  'n  cleachadh  ceudna 
air  doigh,  air  a  chumail  suas  lathast,  gup  dad  a  dh'  atharrachadh 
's  an  Eilc-an  Mhanainneach.  Oir  cha  'n  'eil  statb.  an  lagh  no  'n 
achd  gus  an  teid  a  leughadh  a  mach  gu  follaiseach  aig  Ouairt 
Tinwald,  am  meadhon  an  eilein,  an  lathair  a'  phobuill  comh- 
chruinnichte  mu'n  cuaivt  di.  Agus,  ged  nach  ann  's  a  chuairt  a 
tha  i  o  cbioiin  fhad,  is  fin  a  thoir  fainear  gur  ann  air  clach  a  tha 
righrean  Bhreatuinn  air  an  crunadh — clach-na-cineamhuin  a 
tbainig  o  Eirinn  a  dh-Alba,  agus  o  Alba  do  Shasuinn.  Tha  seann 
bheul-aitbrisanEirinnmudeighinn,  a'  cumail  amachgu'm  bitheadh 
i  toir  fuairn  neonach  'nuair  a  bhitheadh  fear  de  fhior  ghineal  nam 
Milesianaich  air  a  chrunadh  oirre,  ach  fo  chois  fear  sara  bith  eile, 
bha  i  cho  samhach  ri  cloich. 

Mar  so,  ma  tha,  bha  chuairt  na  h-aite  coinneimh  ehomhairliche 
— 'na  tigh-seallaidh  reul-eolais — \ia  talla-moid  agus,  gn  h-araidh,  'na 
teampull  iiaornh,  far  an  robh  gach  deas-ghnath  a  bhuineadh  do 
aoradh  na  greine  air  a  h-ordachadh,  am  modh  aoraidl:  is  farsuinge 
a  sgaoil  riamh  am  nieasg  a  chinneadh-dhaoine.  Agus  cha  'n  e  an  t- 
aobhar  iongantais  is  lugha  an  greim  teann  a  rimi  e  air  aig- 
nidhean  a  luchd-leannihuinn.* 

An  tomad  's  am  morachd,  tha  Carnac  a'  toirt  brrrachd  air  na  h- 
uile  's  aithne  dhuinn.  Cha  'n  e  a  mhain  gu'm  bheil  a'  chuairt  fein 
anabarrach,  ach  cho  maith  ri  sin,  an  cruinneachadh  fuathasach  de 
chlachan  mor  a  tha  mu  'n  cuairt  dhi,  cuid  dhiu  corr  as  tri  fichead 
troidh  air  airde  agus  mu  cheithir-deug  air  leud.  Ach  ged  tha 
iomadh  ni  mu  deighinn  an  iom-cheist,  tha  e  lan-chinnteach  gu'n 
robh  i  na  h-ionad  seallaidh  reul-eolais  agus  na  h-inneal-tomhais 
aimsir.  Agus  tha  'm  beul-aithris  a  tha  fathast  am  measg  mhuinn- 
tir  an  aite,  mar  ghne  dhearbhadh  air  sin — gu'n  robh  iad  o  shean  a 
ghnath  a  cur  clach  ur  ris  an  aireimh  na  h-uile  bliadhna,  am 
meadhon  an  t-samhraidh,  an  deigh  tein'-aighear  (no  mar  bu  choir 
a  radh,  teine-Bhaal)  a'  dheanamh  an  oidhche  roimh  sin.  Agus  ma 
tha  sin  nor,  's  ann  gun  teagamh  gu  bhith  cumail  cunntais  chearfe 
air  aireamh  nam  bliadhna  bha  iad  'ga  dheanamh.  Agus  cha  'n 
'eil  e  mi-choltach  nach  'eil  bunchar  firinn  aig  an  t-seann-sgeul  so,  'n 
uair  a  bhithear  a'  toirt  fainear  aireamh  fhuathasach  nan  clachan, 
— corr  a's  ceithir  mile. 

*The  Druidical  remains  in  the  Decan  are  precisely  like  those  in  Britain 
and  France — the  exact  counterfeit  of  Carnae,  Stonehenge  and  Kits  Cotty- 
houee,  as  in  other  parts  of  India. — Captain  Taylor,  in  Irish  Academy  Trant- 
action*. 

a 


98  TRANSACTIONS. 

Tim  saobh-sgeul  eile  ann  anns  am  faodar  bhi  'g  aithneachadh 
faoin  oidhirp  mac-meanmna  an  deigh  dhoibh  eachdraidh  fhior  na 
togalaich  a  chall — is  e,  gu'm  Ve  obair  nan  Orion  bh'  innte  gu  leir 
— obair  dhaoine  crion,  na  fir  bheag,  bheag,  dha  'm  bu  ghnath  bhi 
tional  's  a'  dannsadh  mu'n  cuajrt  oidhchean  araidh  dhe  'n 
bhliadhna.  Ach  mo  thruaighe  leir  am  fear-astair  a  thigeadh  tar- 
suinn  orra  'n  trath  sin — gu  dearbh  bhitheadh  a  leoir  dannsaidh 
aige  mu'n  tigeadh  a'  mhaduinn. 

Ach  co  am  fear,  air  feadh  na  Gaidhealtachd,  a  dh'eisd  ri  sgeulachan 
na  seann  mhuinntir  mu'n  teallaich  air  feasgair  geamhraiadh, 
beagan  bhliadhnaidh  roimhe  so,  nach  'eil  eolach  gu  leoir  air  fineadh 
nam  fear  beag — air  an  teintean  's  an  dannsadh,  air  mullach  chnoe 
a's  thoman  ?  Agus  cha  robh  sin  iongantach  ;  oir  bha  an  teine  so 
na  ni  aig  an  robh  dearbh  bhith  mu  dheireadh  na  h-ochd-ceud-deug; 
agus  faodar  a  bhith  cinnteach  nach  robh  an  dannsadh  air  di- 
chuimhn.* 

Cha  robh  'san  dannsadh,  air  a'  chuid  is  mo  ach  righligeadh  le 
eeum  cubhaidh  an  cuartalan  mu  thiomchioll  an  teine,  na  m» 
chlachan  na  cuairt,  ma  bha  iad  sin  am  fagus — cha  robh  's  a'  chleas 
o  chionn  fhad  ach  raeasgan  de  dh-abhacas  agus  de  sheann  nosan. 
Is  ann  aig  tionndaidh  na  greine,  am  meadhon  an  t-samhraidh,  a 
bha  iad  a'  beothachadh  teine  Bhaal  air  na  cnuic  an  Eirinn  ;  agus 
tha  e  coslach  gum  b'  e  sin  an  t-am  ceart,  ged  a  b'  ann  air  ceud  la  a' 
Cheitein  a  bha  iad  a  coimhid  "  La  buidhe  Bcaltuinn"  an  Albainn. 
Tha  cuimhne  mhaith  aig  cuid  fathast  air  cleachdadh  a  bha  cumanta 
's  a'  Ghaidhealtachd  m'an  d'  thainig  an  t-inneal-beothachaidh  sin, 
Ivxifer  matches,  an  cumantas.  Bhitheadh  feadhainn  a'  leigeadh  an 
teine  as  an  oidhche  roimhe,  agus  moch  air  madxiinn  Bealtuinn  a' 
dol  do  thigh  nabuidh  a  dh'  iasachd  tein'-eiginn,  nach  bithead  iad 
an  comhnuidh  faighinn  le  deadh  ghean  ;  air  eagal  's  gu'm  bitheadh 
iad  a'  toirt  ni's  mo  na  'n  teine  leo.  Is  e  bh'  anns  a'  ghiseag  so 
fuigheall  dhe  'n  t-seann  chleachdadh  a  bhith  cuir  as  an  teine  aon 
nair  's  a'  bhliadhna  co  dhiu,  agus  ga  bheothachadh  as  ur  le  fior 
theine-eiginn,  a  bha  naomhachadhna  teallaich  re  na  h-ath-bhliadhna. 
Ach  mar  bha  e  rud-eigin  doirbh  a  bhi  beothachadh  tein'-eiginn, 
bhathar  a'  cleanamh  a'  ghnothaich  le  teine  Bhaal  o  na  cnuic  gu 
bhith  ag  ath-bheothachadh  teine  '11  tighe ;  ged  tha  Dr  Martin  'g 
radh  gu  'n  robh  iad  'a  deanamh  tein'-eiginn  'san  EileanSgiathanach 
an  am  a  thurais  an  sin.  Agus  bha  iad  a'  meas  a'  cheud  bhurn  a 

*  Hayman  Rook,  writing  in  1786,  says  that  the  custom  of  lighting  the 
Taal-fire  at  the  Druid  temple  near  Harrogate,  on  the  eve  of  the  Summer 
solstice,  was  regularly  observed  at  that  time. 


REMAINS    OF    ANCIENT    RELIGION.  99 

racbadh  a  ghoil  air  an  teine  ur  na  ioc  cumhachdach  gu  gleidheadh 
an  spreidhe  o  phlaigh  no  tubaiste,  agus  air  son  sin,  chrathadh 
orra.  Agus  's  math  tha  cuimhne  aig  feadhainn  fathast  air 
cleachdadh  eile  'bha  ri  fhaicinn  'san  Eilean  Dubh.  Air  maduinn 
La  Calluinn,  moch  roimh  eirigh  na  greine,  bhithid  a'  losgadh 
gheugan  aiteil  anns  a'  bhathaich  's  a'  smudadh  a'  chruidh  leis  an 
toit  fhallain,  air  son  an  aobhair  cheudna.  Dh'  eirich  na  nosan  so, 
maille  ri  iomadh  eile,  o  gnath  nan  Druidh,  a  bhi  glanadh  gach 
creutair  beo,  duine  's  ainmhidh,  le  teine,  aon  uair's'abhliadhna  air 
a  chuid  bu  lugha.  Agus  o  dheas-ghnath  an  ath-ghlanaidh  so  tha 
'n  radh  so  againn — "A'  dol  eadar  da  theine.''  Bha  iad  an  Eirinn 
ga  chunntadh  gle  shealbhach  a  bhith  leum  troiuahe  'n  teine. 

Is  coslach  gu'm  b'  ann  an  siorramachd  Pheairt  bu  deireannaich  a 
bhathar  a'  beothachadh  teine  Bhaal  an  Albainn,  air  mullach  cnoc 
Tulaich-Bhealtainn  an  Auchtergaven,  dluth  dha  'm  bheil  teampull 
Dhruidh.  Bithidh  mi  'n  so  a'  giorrachadh  a'  chunntais  a  tha 
Pennant  a'  toir  air  a'  chleas.  Air  dhoibh  an  teine  bheothachadh 
agus  comaidh  de  mhin,  's  uibhean, ';>  im  &c.,  adheasachadh  air, 
thilg  iad  pairt  bheag  air  an  teine  mar  iobairt-dibhe.  An  deigh 
sin,  a'  seasamh  mu'n  cuairt  le  an  aghaidh  ris  an  teine,  ghabh  gach 
neach  inir  na  'laimh  's  a'  briseadh  spiel  gaig  dheth,  thilg  e  sid  thair 
a  ghualainn  do  fhear  gleidhidh  no  fear  millidh  a  mhaoin  's  a  gradh 
— "  So  dhuts',  a  mhadaidh-ruaidh,  seachainn  mo  chearcan  is  m' 
uain.  Sodhutsa,  chlamhain  riabhaiche,  's  bi  caomhain  air  na 
h-iseanean  &c."  Bha  iad  a  rithist  a'  cuairteachadh  an  teampuill 
naoidh  uairean  's  an  deigh  sin  ag  ith  's  ag  ol  's  a  dannsadh.  Bha 
beagan  atharrachaidh  air  an  doigh-so  aig  Calasraid — an  aite  bhi 
tilgeil  nan  criomanan  arain  air  an  cul-thaobh,  bha  iad  an  toiseach 
a'  dubhadh  aon  dhiubh  le  guaillean,  's  ga  'n  tilgeadh  fcroimh  cheile 
am  boineid.  Agus  bha  'm  fear  am  thfirrtiingeadh  a  mir  dubh  cois- 
rigte  do  Bhaal,  's  bhitheadh  aige  ri  leum  tri  uairean  troimh  'n 
teine  mar  gu'm  b'  ann  ga  iobradh. 

Laimh  ris  an  Eaglais-Bhric,  bha  na  maighdeannean  a'  dol  a 
mach  moch  air  maduinn  Bealtuinn  a  thional  an  dealt  na  'm  bois  's 
ga  thilgeadh  thair  an  gualainn  mar  thabhartas  reiteachaidh  gu  bhi 
faighinn  suiridhich.  Ach  's  ann  a  bhitheadh  fortanach  te  a  ghla- 
cadh  seilcheag  air  adharcean  an  trath  sin  (Stat.  Account  of  Scotland' 
1826}.  Bha  cuid  mhaith  de  nosan  diadhachd  nan  Druidh  comh- 
sheasamh  an  tabhartais,  dheth  'm  faodar  a  bhith  lorgachadh  cuid 
fathast,  mar  tha  "  Deoch  na  Gruagaich."  Is  rud  so  mu  dheighinn 
nach  'eil  e  furasda  bhith  toir  iomraidh  chinntich,  do  bhrigh  's  nach 
eilear  a'  cordadh  mu'n  Ghmagaich,  co  'bho  innte.  B'  e  a  tabhartaa 

o  2 


100  ThANSACTIONi. 

sileag  bhainne  'bha  bhanarach  a'  dortadh  dhi  an  deigh  bleoghan  a 
chruidh.  Ged  a  tha  an  t-ainm  a'  filleadh  gu'm  b'  e  boirionnach  a 
bha  innte,  tha  cuid  a  curnail  a1  rnach  gum  b'  i'n  t-aon  ni  i  ris  an 
Uruisg ;  mun  'bha  'n  Uruisg  gle  gheocach  air  bainne.  So  leibh 
bodach  a  bha  taghal  air  uillt  's  glaic  aonaraich ;  ach  mu  dheireadh 
an  fhoghar  a  bha  fas  ni  bu  chaidrea'maich  's  ag  ealadh  mu'n  bhaile. 
Agus  mun  bha  e  cho  miannach  air  bainne,  bha  banaraich  a'  fagail 
sileig  dha,  gu  bhith  ga  chum  ail  air  ghean.  Aig  an  fheasgar,  bha 
iad  a'  fagail  suidheachan  falarnh  dha  rl  taobh  an  teinteaii,  agus  cha 
d'  thoireadh  an  saoghal  air  neach  suidhe  an  sin,  air  eagal  a  bhi  cur 
stuirte  air  an  uruisg — oir  's  e  an  daighear  bha  ann  na  'n  tig- 
eadh  braghadh  air. 

Na'm  bitheadh  neach  a  lathair  aig  an  robh  an  da  shealladh 
d.h'  fheudadh  e  bhi  fnicinn  na  h-uruisg,  an  coslas  leth-sheanu 
duine,  aigeannach.  sultmhor,  an  deise  chiar-ghlas,  fait  buidhe, 
dosach  tuiteam  mu  guallainnean,  boineid  mhor,  leathaun  air  a 
ceann,  agus  cuaille  tapaidh  na  dorn.  Is  gann  a  bha  tigh  mor 
sam  bith  uairegin  gun  uruisg  bhith  taghal  air.  Agus  'n  uair  a 
thigeadh  fodha  bheireadh  e  srann  air  obair  an  trath  a  bhitheadh 
muinntir  eile  na  'n  suain  chodail.  Tha  Milton  a'  cur  so  gu  h-aillidh 
anna  an  dan  L'  Allegro. 

Tells  how  the  drudging  goblin  sweat 
To  earn  his  cream-bowl  duly  set, 
When,  in  one  night,  ere  glimpse  of  morn 
His  shadowy  fLil  has  threshed  the  corn, 
That  ten  day-labourers  could  not  end  ; 
Then  lies  him  down  the  lubber  fiend, 
And,  stretched  out  all  the  chimney's  length, 
Basks  at  the  fire  his  hairy  strength. 

An  uiread  so  mu'n  uruisg — Ach  tha  cuid  eile  dearbhadh  iru'm 
bitheadh  sinn  ni  bu  phoncail  le  bhith  tuigsinn  na  Gruagaich  mar 
fhleasgach  og  deadh-mhaiseach,  le  dualan  donn,  bachlach  a'  tuiteam 
na  'n  tuinn  mu  mhuineal,  agus  uaithe  sin  a  comh-dhunadh  nach 
bu  ni  sam  bith  eile  e  ach  a  ghrian,  no  Apollo  nan  dual  riomhach 
neo-bhearrta,  dha  'bu  shloinneadh  am  Breatuinn,  Grannus,  ged 
chaidh  an  t-ainm  car  air  iomrall  na  ath-chumadh.  Agus  tha  mi 
deanamh  dheth  gur  e  so  am  beachd  is  coslaich ;  oir  tha  e  dearbhta 
gu'n  robh  seann  f hineacheau  Bhreatuiim  gu  leir 'a  leaiituinn  aoradh 
Apollo — agus  mar  sin  gu'm  b'  ann  do  n'  ghrein  a  bha  na  banach- 
agan  a'  toir  an  dibhe  bainne,  ge  b'  e  dealbh  sam  bith  a  bha  na  'n 
inntinn  fein,  no  'n  smuaintean  muinntir  neo-fhoghluimt«  an 
coitchiontas. 


REMAINS    OF    ANCIENT    RELIGION.  1.01 

Tha  Mi-  Mac-Cuinn  a  bha  na  mhinisteir  an  Cille-Mhuire  'san 
Eilean  Sgiathanach  (1770)  ag  innseadli  gu'n  robh  iad  cho  deidheil 
air  a  chleas  so  ann  an  earuinn  dheth  'n  sgii'e,  's  gu'n  robh  e  ni 
uspairn  chruaidh  dha  bhi  gu  'n  aomadh  gu  a  leigeadh  dhiubh.  B' 
abhaist  dhoibh  na  h-uile  la,  an  deigh  bleoghainn  a'  chruidh,  a  bhi 
fagail  dileig  bhainne  ann  an  lagan  air  mullach  cloiche  do  'n  Ghrua- 
gaich,  mar  thabhartas  buidheachais.  Agus  faodaidh  sinn  a  bhi 
creidsirn  gu'n  robh  a'  Ghruagach  a'gabhail  ris  an  of  rail,  oir  cha  b' 
fhada  bitheadh  a  ghrian  a'  sughadh  suas  's  a'  tiormachadh  dileag 
bhainne,  gu  h-araidh  air  la  teth  sainhraidh. 

Tha  sinn  uile  eolach  air  cleachdadh  eile  tha  fathast  cumanta  air 
feadh  na  duthcha  sin  's  am  bheil  iad,  aig  deireadh  an  fhoghar,  an 
deigh  ceann  a  chur  air  a'  bhuain,  a'  ceangal  dorlach  dhiasan  's 
ga  'n  tasgadh  suas  ann  an  tigh  a  BJiaintigJiearna-arbJiair  no 
mhaighdean  mar  their  iad  rithe  an  Sasuinn.  Mai%-ri  sin  bithidh 
seann  tuathanaich  a'  our  dorlach  ghrainn  ann  am  pocan  's  ga 
chrochadh  suas  air  an  doigh  cheudna.  Is  e  bha  'n  sin  o  chian, 
ofrail  ceud  thoradh  na  talmhuinn  do  Apollo  La  Liunasduinn 
— agus  tha  "  siubhal  a  Ghabhair  Bhacaich,"  cleachdadh  neonach 
eile  'bha  o  chionn  ghoirid  cumanta  's  an  taobh  tuath,  a'  cur  gne 
chomhdhearbhadh  air  so.  A'  cteud  fhear  a  chuir  ceann  air  a' 
bhuain,  bha  esan  a'  ceangal  sguabaig  's  ga  toirt  an  laimh  gille  luath- 
chasach,  a's  ga  chur  leatha  dh'  ionnsuidh  a  nabuidh  a  bha  air 
dheireadh  's  bha  am  fear  so  a  rithist,  air  dha  ciioch  a  chur  air  a' 
bhuain,  ga  cur  air  adhart  gus  an  ath-fhear  a  bha  air  dheireadh  leis, 
<fec.  Ach  cho  luath  's  a  liubhradh  e  an  "  Gabhar"  bha  aige  ri 
chasan  a  thoirt-as — oir  cha  robh  's  a'  chleachdadh  mu  dheireadh  ach 
gne'  raiteachais  gu  bhi  cur  an  tuathanaich  an  cxiimhne  gu'n  robh  e 
ro-mhaU  air  obair  an  fhoghar.  A  nis  tha  earrann  an  eachdraidh 
Pansanias,  seann  sgriobhaiche  Greugach,  a  tha  mi  am  barail  a  tha 
deanamh  ciall  agus  tus  a'  "  Ghabhar  Bhacaich"  soilleir  dhuinn ; 
agns  a'  dhearbhaclh  gu  'm  bheil  an  so  againn  gne  atharrais  air  aii 
rian  'san  robh  ar  sinnsirean  a  cur  an  tiodhlaic  naomh  a  dh'  ionn- 
suidh eilean  Delos,  do  Apollo — ga  chur  o  threubh  gu  treubh  gua 
an  ruigeadh  e  an  t-eilean.  So-leibh  mar  tha  Pansanias  ag  radh. 
Is  co  math  dhomh  chur  am  Beurla.  "The  Hyperboreans  sent 
the  holy  offering  to  the  Arimaspi,  they  sent  it  on  to  the  Isidoneans, 
these  sent  it  to  the  Scythians,  and  these  again  to  Sinope,  whence 
the  Athenians  transported  it  to  Delos." 

Tha  Calimachus  cuideachd  a'  deanamh  luaidh,  no  laoidh  an 
onair  Delos,  air  a  leithid  ceudna  's  ag  radh  gu'n  robh  gach  cearn* 
dheth  'n  domhan  a'  cur  ofrail  a  cheud-thoraidh  gu  Delos. 


102  TRANSACTIONS. 

Acli  mar-ri  sin,  bha  ar  n-athraichean,  avuhuil  inar  ua  fineachau 
eile,  toir  aoraidh  do  chumhachdaidh  Naduir,  agus  do  Spioradan- 
gleidhidh  aitean  air  leth.  Is  e  samhuil  dhaibh  so  ofrail  Shony  an 
Leoghas,  air  Oidhche  Shamhna.  Gu  bhi  deanamh  sgeula  fhada 
goirid,  bha  iad  an  sin  a'  cruinneachadh  gu  aite  freagarrach  'a  a' 
taghadh  fear  dhe  'n  chuideachd  le  tuiteam-chrann,  's  bha  esan  a'  dol 
sios  gu  mheadhon  do  'n  luhuir,  le  cuach  leanna  na  laimh  's  ga 
thaomadh  air  an  uisge,  an  deigh  dranndan  athchuinge  id  Shony  gu 
bhi  cur  pailteas  feamuinn  thun  na  traighe  air  a  gheamhradh. 

Co-ionann  ri  sin  bha  "  Leabaidh  Bhrighd"  ann  an  eilean  lie  's  an 
Colonsa.  Bha  iad  an  sin  a'  deanamh  suas  sguabag  arbhair  's  ga 
cur  seachad  am  bascaid,  agus,  an  deigh  focail  failte  do  Bhrighd,  dol 
gu  fois,  an  duil  gu'm  faighteadh  an  lath  'r  na  mhaireach  lorg  coise 
Bhrighd  anns  an  luath  air  a'  cLagailt,  ma  ghabh  i  ris  an  ofrail  le  gean 
math.  Agus  bhasud  mar  choniharradh  dhoibh  gu'm  bitheadh  iad 
a'  faotainn  an  iarrtais,  an  fhad  so. 

Tha  muinntir  fathast  beo  aig  am  bheil  cuinihne  air  cleachdadh 
ni-eigin  coslach  ri  so  a  bha  cuid  a'  leantuinn  'san  Eilean  Dubh.  Ann 
an  teaghlach  's  an  do  chaoehail  neach  bhitheadh  iad  oidhche 
Challuinn,  a'  racadh  na  giiosaich  dheth  na  chagailt,  a  cur  na  luath 
comhnard,  min,  agus  air  maduinn  na  bliadhna  uir  gheibhteadh, 
ma's  a  nor,  lorg  coise  an  neach  a  dh'  fhalbh  air  an  luath.  Ach 
cha  'n  'eil  e  furasda  bhi  deanamh  tnach  ciod  e  bu  bhonn  na  bu 
chiall  do  'n  chleas.  Ach  is  iomadh  nis  a's  cleas  a  b'fhearr  na  so  a 
chaidh  o  chionn  fhada  gu  tur  air  dhi-chuimhne  le  ar  mi  thoirte,  agus 
mu  'm  bu  mhath  leinn  an  diugh  iniou-chunntais  a  bhi  againn. 

STH  FEBRUARY,  1877. 

At  this  meeting  the  Rev.  Mr  Watson,  Kiltearn,  read  the  fol- 
lowing paper  on 

"THE    COLLECTING   OF    HIGHLAND   LEGENDS  AND 
THE  NECESSITY  FOR  COLLECTING  THEM  NOW." 

WHILE  undoubtedly  a  great  deal  has  of  late  years  been  done 
in  the  way  of  encouraging  the  study  of  the  Celtic  language  and 
literature,  especially  in  reference  to  the  departments  of  mythology 
and  folk-lore,  I  cannot  but  think  that  much  more  could  be  accomp- 
lished ID  the  way  of  collecting  legends  by  our  scholars,  who  are 
scattered  over  all  parts  of  the  Highlands,  if  only  they  directed 
their  attention  to  the  subject. 


HIGHLAKr    LEGENDS.  103 

This  being  my  opinion,  I  had  little  difficulty  in  determining  on 
what  subject  to  write  when  this  large  and  well  known  society  did 
me  the  honour  of  requesting  me  to  prepare  an  essay  with  the  view 
of  its  being  read  here,  and  so  I  venture  to  make  the  following  re- 
marks on  "  the  Collecting  of  Highland  Legends  and  the  Necessity 
for  Collecting  them  now." 

I. — A.  preliminary  question  meets  us  on  the  very  threshold  of 
our  subject,  viz.,  are  there  any  legends  to  gather  ]  are  we  sur« 
that  they  have  not  all  been  collected  already  1 

(1)  This  question,  I  think,  scarcely  requires  an  answer.  Every 
one  who  has  in  his  youth  lived  in  a  Highland  country  parish,  and 
who  in  his  after  years  became  a  student  of  the  language  and  cus- 
toms of  his  people,  knows,  or  thinks  he  knows,  that  a  tithe  has  not 
yet  been  collected  of  what  might  have  been.  The  language  is  to 
its  very  greatest  depths  saturated  with  legends,  while  its  modern 
surface  is  tattooed  (if  we  may  use  the  expression)  with  those  mytho- 
logical images  which  have  descended  from  the  days  of  yore.  In 
all  countries  men  cling  with  extraordinary  tenacity  to  the  customs 
and  to  the  thoughts  of  their  ancestors.  In  this  respect  all  races 
are  conservative ;  for  example,  we  read  of  Icelandic  kings,  like 
Hegli,  who  having  been  converted  to  Christianity,  trusted  in 
Christ,  except  when  they  got  into  any  difficulty  or  when  they 
were  about  to  put  out  to  sea  and  incur  the  dangers  of  the  great 
deep.  Then  they  invoked  the  aid  of  Thor,  the  god  of  their  fore- 
fathers. 

What  we  might  call  the  most  glaring  of  the  legends,  the  most 
sensational,  have,  generally  speaking,  found  their  way  into  print ; 
but  there  are  whole  hosts  of  modest,  unobtrusive,  shy  stories 
which  are  yet  pure  in  their  native  element.  Nature  does  not 
wear  her  most  useful  lessons  on  her  sleeve  :  and  nothing  can  be 
more  natural  than  that  these  retiring,  shy  legends  should  have 
escaped  the  observation  of  collectors,  while  the  more  vigorous, 
forward  and  highly  coloured  succeeded  in  exalting  themsalves  into 
the  high  places  of  literature.  But  it  does  not  follow  that  those 
legends  which  have  hitherto  escaped  notice  are  less  interesting, 
or  would  give  less  information  or  would  throw  less  light  upon  the 
past  than  tlieir  fellows.  In  the  physical  world  the  more  boisterous 
agents  are  generally,  if  not  always,  the  weaker.  The  sunbeam  is 
strongci  and  more  useful  than  the  volcano,  and  gravitation  is  more 
powerful  than  the  thunderstorm ;  for  while  the  latter  may  hurl 
down  a  few  buildings,  or  wreck  a  few  ships,  or  lash  the  ocean  into 
fury,  the  former  guides  worlds  as  they  roll  in  their  orbits  and 


104  TRANSACTION*. 

rules  suns  as  they  travel  through  the  immensities  of  space.  The, 
same  law  holds  true  in  the  realms  of  language.  What  appears 
strong  language,  what  is  called  strong  language,  is  invariably  weak 
in  comparison  with  the  calm  deductions  ol  reason,  or  the  almost 
still  small  voice  of  the  demonstrative  sciences.  And,  may  it  not  hap- 
pen that  those  legends  which,  on  account  of  their  timid  bashfulness, 
have  hitherto  escaped  the  printing-press,  as  the  silent  force  of 
electricity  eluded  for  ages  the  grasp  of  the  students  of  natural 
philosophy,  will  turn  out  to  possess  far  more  beauty  and  far  more 
energy  than  other  legends  which,  at  the  first  blush,  appear  strong, 
— indeed  than  any  one  would  be  inclined  to  give  such  modest 
legends  credit  for,  before  a  thorough  examination  of  their  details 
and  history  had  been  made  ?  To  all  the  sciences,  but  especially  to 
the  science  of  language  we  can  apply  the  immortal  words  of  the 
poet  Gray : — 

How  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene  , 

The  dark,  un fathomed  caves  of  ocean  bear  ; 

Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 

And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air. 

Have  we  in  our  Highland  straths  and  glens  no  students  who  will 
put  themselves  to  the  trouble  of  collecting  the  gems  which  are 
scattered  in  our  language  ?  Some  of  our  Highland  friends  may  be 
unable  to  separate  the  valuable  from  the  valueless,  but  let  that 
not  prevent  them  from  collecting  the  ore  since  other  scholars  can 
perhaps  be  found  who  will  distinguish  the  grains  of  gold  from  the 
heaps  of  sand. 

(2)  But  let  us  suppose  that  the  idea  of  there  being  uncollected 
legends  still  floating  in  the  language  of  our  people,  is  a  false  one  ; 
let  us  suppose  that  not  only  has  every  legend  been  gathered,  but 
also  every  scrap  and  edition  of  every  legend ;  that  every  local 
name  and  peculiar  expression,  every  ancient  custom  and  fragment 
of  poetry,  every  riddle  and  proverb  has  been  collected ;  and 
having  supposed  all  this,  let  us  ask,  what  good  can  it  do  to  direct 
attention  to  the  collecting  of  them  now  ? 

I  put  this  question  in  as  strong  a  form  as  possible,  because 
there  are  persons  in  this  country,  who  are  not  slow  to  tell  us  that 
all  that  could  be  done  in  this  department  of  science  has  been  al- 
ready done. 

The  answer  to  this  is  very  simple,  viz.,  that  we  have  no  more 
proof  that  the  collection  has  been  so  thorough,  so  complete  and  so 
searching  as  is  here  indicated,  than  that  a  dream  casts  a  shadow. 
It  is  easy  to  make  strong  statements  but  not,  by  any  means,  •<> 


HIGHLAND    LEGENDS.  105 

easy  to  verify  them  ;  and  even  were  all  legends  gathered  it  would 
be  no  small  boon  to  the  Celtic  student  to  have  a  clear  proof  that 
they  were  gathered. 

The  botanist  is  not  satisfied  until  he  knows  that  he  has  ex- 
amined all  the  flowers  and  plants  in  the  district  in  which  he- 
resides,  and  so  the  real  student  of  language  cannot  rest  contented 
until  he  is  convinced  that  all  the  legends,  &c.,  of  his  country  have 
been  collected  and  classified.  And  as  the  botanist  examines  the 
most  common  grasses  and  worthless  weeds,  as  well  as  the  most 
gorgeous  flowers  and  towering  trees,  the  student  of  the  science  of 
language  brings  the  lens  of  criticism  to  bear  on  the  most  childish 
fable  as  well  as  on  the  most  soul-inspiring  poetry. 

For  a  long  time  many  enthusiastic  men  wasted  large  portions 
of  their  lives  as  well  as  treasures  of  wealth  in  the  search  of  the  so- 
called  perpetual  motion ;  and  it  is  said  that  there  are  men  still 
engaged  in  this  barren  investigation,  under  the  delusion  that  the- 
perpetual  motion  is  a  lost  but  recoverable  invention,  and  that  our 
Government  some  years  ago  laid  aside  a  great  reward  to  be  be- 
stowed on  the  successful  re-discoverer.  Is  it  no  small  boon  to  the 
scientific  world  to  be  convinced  that  the  perpetual  motion  is 
impossible  )  This  allows  many  an  enthusiast  to  direct  his  energies 
into  another  aud  more  useful  channel ;  while,  the  very  assumption 
of  the  principle  that  the  perpetual  motion  is  impossible,  has  led  to 
the  discovery  of  new  and  important  scientific  truths. 

For  a  long  time  it  was  a  question  with  astronomers  whether 
there  were  inhabitants  in  the  moon  or  not.  Did  astronomy  gain 
nothing  by  proving  that  our  satellite  has  no  atmosphere,  and  in 
consequence,  that  there  can  be  no  inhabitants  there  who  resemble 
us  in  the  least  ]  Omitting  the  satisfaction  attending  the  solution 
of  an  interesting  scientific  problem,  did  not  the  settling  of  this 
question  enable  both  those  who  were  and  those  who  would  have 
been  interested  in  it,  to  pursue,  undisturbed  by  it,  other  important 
scientific  investigations  ?  If  the  key  which  unlocked  this  riddle 
had  not  been  discovered,  its  want  would  have  haunted  the  minds 
of  many  of  them,  would  have  tended  to  wean  away  their  attention 
from  other  pursuits  and  thus  would  have  rendered  them  less  able 
to  extend  the  confines  of  discovery. 

The  same  principle  holds  good  in  reference  to  our  legends.  So 
long  as  we  are  not  certain  that  they  have  all  been  gathered  up, 
there  will,  in  all  probability,  be  men  whose  minds  will  be  haunted 
with  the  thought  that  something  more  could  be  done  in  this  field 
than  has  yet  been  accomplished,  and  therefore  whoee  usefulness  in 


106  TRANSACTIONS. 

other  departments  of  Celtic  literature  and  science  will  inevitably 
be  diminished. 

Thus  standing  upon  the  lowest  level  possible — assuming,  for 
the  sake  of  argument,  that  every  legend,  nursery  story  and  quaint 
saying,  that  every  proverb,  riddle  and  scrap  of  poetry  has  been 
already  collected,  we  come  to  the  conclusion  that  even  in  such  cir- 
cumstances it  would  be  no  vain  task  to  draw  attention  to  the  sub- 
ject were  it  even  to  obtain  a  proaf  of  the  thorough  character  of  the 
previous  research.  How  much  more  incumbent,  therefore,  is  it 
upon  us  all  to  enter  this  region  of  scientific  labour  with  renewed 
vigour,  since  we  are  well-nigh  certain  that  no  more  than  a  tithe  of 
the  legends,  &c.,  which  are  floating  in  the  language  of  the  High- 
lander has  yet  been  observed  and  examined. 

The  number  of  men  in  our  age  who  work  their  way  into  print 
is  very  large,  yet  there  are  thousands,  especially  in  the  remote 
Highlands  for  whom  it  is  no  easy  task  to  pass  any  writing  of 
theirs  through  the  press.  Here,  however,  in  the  collecting  of 
legends  and  in  the  describing  of  ancient  customs  we  have  a  rich 
field  in  which  any  one  possessing  a  fair  share  of  common  sense,  and 
rather  more  than  a  fair  share  of  perseverance,  can  make  for  him- 
self a  name.  The  more  remote  the  glen  in  which  the  student  lives, 
the  further  away  from  the  steam-ship  and  railroad  the  better,  since 
here  in  the  dark,  the  legends,  like  certain  flowers,  have  a  better 
chance  of  living  than  in  the  full  daylight  of  modern  civilisation. 

II. — Bat  this  leads  us  to-  put  our  second  question — what  good 
can  it  do  to  the  Highlander,  or  to  any  one  else,  to  gather  and  clas- 
sify these  apparently  silly  stories  1 

It  has  been  proved  that  there  is  a  science  of  language  and 
and  that  this  science  can  be  classed  among  the  physical  sciences. 
It  is  not  yet  an  old  science,  like  chemistry  and  geology  ;  it  really 
belongs  to  the  nineteenth  century.  Now,  the  science  of  language 
has  not  only  supplied  a  new  basis  but  has  also  thrown  a  new 
light  on  the  science  of  mythology,  and  this  again  has  illuminated 
with  its  rays  the  hitherto  dark  regions  of  storiology  and  folk- 
lore. "  Even  classical  philology,"  says  the  distinguished  German 
philosopher,  Helmholtze,  "  even  classical  philology  is  no  longer 
restricted  to  the  study  of  those  works  which,  by  their  artistic  per- 
fection and  precision  of  thought,  or  because  of  the  importance  of 
their  contents,  have  become  models,  of  prose  and  poetry  to  all  ages. 
On  the  contrary  we  have  learnt  that  every  lost  fragment  of  an 
ancient  author,  a  very  gloss  of  a  pedantic  grammarian,  every 
allusion  of  a  Byzantine  court-poet,  every  broken  tombstone  found 


HIGHLAND    LEGENDS.  107 

in  the  wilds  of  Hungary  or  Spain  or  Africa,  may  contribute  » 
fresh  fact,  or  fresh  evidence,  and  thus  serve  to  increase  our 
knowledge  of  the  past;'  but  if  this  be  true  of  words  and  fragments, 
of  sentences,  it  is  also  true  of  myths,  legends  and  ancient  customs. 
Now,  since  the  study  ol  legends  must  be  classed  among  the 
scientific  studies,  it  at  once  becomes  manifest  that  such  a  study  can- 
not but  do  good  if  wisely  pursued.  The  intellectual  energy 
elicited  helps  to  invigorate  the  student's  mind,  while  the  new  and 
interesting  truths  which  h,e  discovers  go  to  increase  his  store  of 
knowledge.  Further,  as  every  planet  in  the  universe  modifies  the 
motion  of  every  other,  we  find  that  every  new  science,  and  every 
new  truth  has  a  tendency  to  improve  and  enlarge  those  sciences 
which  are  already  adorned  with  the  majesty  of  years.  "  The 
study  of  words  may  be  tedious  to  the  school  boy  as  the  breaking 
of  stones  is  to  the  wayside  labourer,,  but,  to  the  thoughtful  eye  of 
the  geologist,  these  stones  are  full  of  interest — he  sees  miracles  on 
the  high-road,  and  reads  chronicles  in  every  ditch;"  and  so  while 
the  uneducated  observer  sees  no  beauty  in  legends  and  no  in- 
struction in  nursery  stories,  the  student  of  language  reads  in  many 
of  them  the  history  of  the  far  past.  When,  Galileo  discovered 
spots  on  the  sun's  surface  no  one  imagined  that  it  would  be  dis- 
covered in  a  subsequent  age  that  these  spots  were  in  some  way 
associated  with  the  Aurora  Borealis  of  our  planets,  with  the 
motions  of  our  magnetic  needles,  and  even  wiih  our  terrestrial 
rainfall  and  cyclones ;.  so  we  know  not  yet  what  our  new  science 
may  lead  to. 

When  the  geologist  finds  a  new  fossil  in  the  strata  of  the  earth, 
he  preserves  it  and  ceases  not  to  examine  it  until  it  reveals  its 
secret  to  him,  until  it  tells  its  fascinating  story  of  the  animal  or 
vegetable  life  which  existed  on  our  planet  during  ages  that  have 
long  since  vanished  into  the  cycles  of  the  past.  Is  there  no  use  in 
this  ]  Does  any  sane  man  despise  the  science  of  geology  ]  Now 
language  has  been  beautifully  called  fossil  poetry.  Professor  Max 
Muller,  after  explaining  some  stories  in  his  excellent  lecture  on  the 
Philosophy  of  Mythology,  exclaims,  "  I  wish  I  could  tell  you  some 
more  of  these  stories  which  have  been  gathered  from  ail  parts  of 
the  world,  and  which,  though  they  may  be  pronounced  childish 
and  tedious  by  some  critics,  seem  to  me  to  glitter  with  the 
brightest  dew  of  nature's  own  poetry,  and  to  contain  those  very 
touches  that  make  us  feel  akin,  not  only  with  Homer  and  Shakes- 
peare, but  even  with  Lapps,  and  Finns,  and  Kaffirs." 

When  the  student  discovers  a  myth  or  a  legend  of  the   far 


108  TRANSACTIONS. 

distant,  dim  past,  petrified  in  the  strata  of  language,  he  preserves 
it  and  begins  to  examine  it.  The  ignorant  may  think  his  conduct 
foolish,  and  1m  eagerness  to  gather  up  those  nursery  tales  and 
school-day  rhymes  which  they  were  accustomed  to  regard  as  silly 
in  the  extreme,  may  be  considered  by  them  as  an  indication  of  a 
mind  more  fit  for  confinement  in  a  lunatic  asylum  than  for,  per- 
haps, a  proud  position  in  the  temple  of  learning  ;  yet,  he  is  not 
discouraged,  for  he  knows  chat  the  pioneers  of  every  great  science 
were  in  their  day  despised  and  dishonoured.  Astronomy  is  now 
the  prince  of  the  physical  sciences,  yet  "  we  find  the4whole  genus 
of  astronomical  men  soundly  castigated  by  Socrates  (the  wisest  of 
the  ancients),  who  thought  astronomy  was  desirable  for  determin- 
ing the  day  of  the  month,  or  the  hour  of  the  night;  but  that  to 
carry  it  further  was  waste  of  valuable  time  and  that  '  speculators 
on  the  universe  and  on  the  laws  of  Heavenly  bodies  were  no  better 
than  madmen.'"  (Solar  Physics  by  N".  Lockyer). 

If  the  childhood  even  of  astronomy  was  thus  dishonoured  can 
we  wonder  should  the  labours  of  the  students  of  the  science  of 
storiology  not  be  respected  1  But,  notwithstanding  this  disrespect 
when  the  student  of  the  Celtic  language  and  literature  finds  a  fossil 
he  wishes  to  preserve  every  fragment  of  it  that  he  may  put  it 
through  the  ordeal  of  a  cross-examination;  and  if  he  can  prevail  upon 
it  to  reveal  its  secret  he  feels  that  he  has  learned  a  higher  truth 
than  that  which  thrills  the  geologist,  since  it  is  a  truth  pertaining 
not  to  the  history  of  the  vegetable  or  animal  worlds,  but  to  the 
history  of  human  beings  possessing  immortal  souls — to  the  history 
of  human  beings  whose  blood,  in  all  probability,  pulsates  through 
his  own  veins. 

"^ords  have  been  called  casts  from  the  primeval  picture  gallery 
of  the  human  mind,  and  to  a  certain  extent  the  same  title  might 
be  applied  to  legends  also.  From  the  study  of  words,  myths,  and 
legends,  that  is,  from  the  archives  of  language  we  have  already 
learned  much  of  what  the  Aryan  civilisation  was  during  ages  stretch- 
ing further  back  far  than  the  dawn  of  documentary  history;  but  very 
much  more  remains  to  be  done,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  worthy 
labourers  will  ere  long  be  seen  at  work  in  every  Highland  strath 
and  glen. 

The  Brothers  Grimm,  Dr  Dasant,  Dr  Bleek,  Dr  Callaway,  &c., 
and  our  own  distinguished  Highland  scholar,  Mr  Campbell,  have 
taught  us  that  our  popular  stories,  however  unmeaning  they 
may  appear,  have  a  meaning  of  their  own,  that  indeed  they  "  yield 
most  valuable  materials  for  the  palaeontology  of  the  human  race." 


HIGHLAND  LEGGED*.  109 

No  one  denies  that  it  does  much  good  to  throw  light  on  the 
languages,  customs,  and  laws  of  the  present,  but  legends  compose 
one  element  of  the  conversational  life  of  our  people,  and  the  more 
fully  we  master  them  the  more  thoroughly  do  we  understand  the 
significance  of  what  we  hear  ahuost  every  day. 

Again,  no  one  denies  that  we  derive  much  benefit  from  study- 
ing the  history  of  the  past ;  but  to  many  a  mind  the  word  "  his- 
tory" has  unfortunately  a  peculiar  and  hence  a  limited  signification, 
and  that,  of  course,  by  no  means,  the  highest.  To  many  people 
(readers  and  writers)  history  signifies  the  description  of •  court 
intrigues,  battles,  revolutions  and  all  such  phenomena.  It  never 
seems  to  dawn  upon  their  minds  that  there  was  an  under-current 
of  force,  out  of  which  battles  and  revolutions  sprung  in  the  past ; 
and  out  of  which  also  the  phenomena  of  the  present  developed 
themselves  by  a  slow  but  sure  process.  The  philosophical  historian 
makes  it  his  primary  business  to  understand  and  describe  this 
under-current,  to  point  out  the  general  in  the  midst  of  the  particu- 
lar, and  the  fundamental  underlying  the  superficial.  He  is  as  sure 
that  this  force  existed  as  that  there  were  fern  forests  previous  to  the 
formation  of  our  coal  fields.  Now,  the  further  back  we  can  trace 
any  chain  of  which  the  links  are  cause  and  effect,  the  more  really 
do  we  understand  that  portion  of  the  series  which  is  under  im- 
mediate observation,  and  so  nothing  surely  can  be  more  manifest 
than  that  the  more  thoroughly  we  understand  that  out  of  which 
the  present  was  developed,  the  more  completely  are  we  masters  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  life  which  we  live,  the  laws  which  we  obey, 
and  the  customs  which  we  follow.  But,  in  relation  to  our  theme, 
it  has  been  proved,  and  that  satisfactorily,  that  the  scientific  study 
of  language,  of  myths,  legends,  and  customs  reveals  this  dim  hidden 
history  of  the  far  past,  out  of  which  the  present  was  developed, 
better  than  the  study  of  any  other  science  or  set  of  sciences  does, 
and  hence  we  cannot  but  conclude  that  those  who  are  engaged  in 
collecting  the  legends  which  are  floating  among  the  people  are 
employed  in  a  task  which  is  anything  but  a  vain  one.  The 
student  who  collects  the  legends  may  not  be  able  to  understand 
their  significance,  but  that  is  no  more  a  reason  why  he  should  not 
collect  them,  than  that  the  mechanic  who  makes  the  piston  of  a  steam 
engine  should  refuse  to  work  until  he  comprehends  every  detail  of 
that  wondrous  engine  which  imparts  life  to  our  factories  and 
speed  to  our  locomotives.  Let  him  be  persuaded  that  not  only 
has  every  legend  which  he  hears  a  history  but  also  every  word 
which  he  utters.  As  the  artist  never  dreams  that  the  clay  which 


1  10  TRANSACTION'*. 

he  handles  contains  the  remnants  of  organic  life  we  are  uncon- 
scious of  the  full  historic  beauty  of  the  words  which  we  speak,  and 
of  the  legends  at  which  \ve  smile.  We  do  not  feel,  for  example, 
when  we  utter  the  word  "  daughter"  that  we  are  speaking  of  a 
"  milkmaid,"  nor  that  the  word  "  father"  originally  meant  "  pro- 
tector." 

Let  us  confine  our  attention  for  a  little  to  the  word  "  daughter," 
and  ask  ourselves  briefly  what  is  involved  in  the  fact  that  this 
word  originally  meant  "  milkmaid"?  This  word,  we  are  told,  is 
the  same  in  all  the  Aryan  languages  except  Latin ;  that  is  to  say, 
this  word  was  in  common  use  in  those  primeval  days  before  the 
Aryan  language  had  broken  up  into  its  several  branches,  and 
before  the  Aryan  races  had  scattered  from  their  primeval  home. 
How  long  ago  this  was  we  cannot  tell,  but  we  do  know  (v.  Max. 
Muller's  Lectures  on  the  science  of  Language,  vol.  i.)  that  one  at 
least  of  the  Aryan  languages  (the  Sanskrit)  was  old  in  the  days  of 
King  Solomon.  The  argument  by  which  this  has  been  proved 
commends  itself  by  the  coherence  of  its  parts  and  the  reasonable- 
ness of  its  conclusions.  We  cannot  enter  into  details  here,  but 
perhaps  we  may  give  some  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  argument. 
If  the  Gaelic  language  were  to  die  out,  and  if  some  tens  of 
thousands  of  years  after  this  scholars  were  endeavouring  to  deter- 
mine when  Gaelic  was  a  spoken  language,  they  would  feel  almost 
if  not  absolutely  certain  that  it  was  spoken  at  the  time  at  which 
such  Gaelic  wordsase&m  and  pibroch  were  imported  into  the  English. 
Now  we  read  in  the  10th  chap,  of  1st  Kings  that  Solomon's  navy 
brought  him  from  some  foreign  port  or  ports,  "algum-trees,  gold  and 
silver,  ivory,  and  apes  and  pea  cocks."  The  names  for  algum-trees,  apes, 
peacocks,  and  ivory  are  foreign  words  in  Hebrew,  as  much  as  gutta- 
percha  and  tobacco  are  in  English.  But  it  has  been  shown  that 
these  are  not  foreign  words  in  Sanskrit,  and  therefore  the  con- 
clusion is  that  they  were  borrowed  from  Sanskrit,  and  so  that 
Sanskrit  was  a  spoken  language  in  the  days  of  the  Hebrew  King 
Solomon.  This  being  so,  the  word  "  daughter"  must  have  been  in 
common  use,  not  only  in  Solomon's  time,  but  long  before.  The 
same  holds  true  of  the  word  "  father."  (Sanskrit — pitar). 

We  know  that  as  nations  advance  in  civilisation,  the  family 
tie  becomes  more  firm  and  the  family  relationship  more  compact. 
There  are  nations  in  the  world  to-day  so  deeply  sunk  in  barbarism 
that  descent  is  reckoned  not  through  the  father's  line,  but  through 
the  mothers'.  The  reason  of  this  is  manifest  and  need  not  here  be 
dwelt  upon.  But  the  word  "  father"  here  shows  us  that  the  Aryan 


HIGHLAND    LKCiEXDS.  1  1  1 

race,  to  which  we  belong,  had  so  far  advanced  in  civilisation  that, 
even  befoi-e  the  time  of  King  Solomon,  the  father  was  regarded  as 
the  protector  of  the  family,  and  "  the  name  of  '  milkmaid'  given  to 
the  daughter  of  the  house  opens  before  our  eyes  a  little  idyll  of  the 
poetical  and  pastoral  life  of  the  early  Aryans.  One  of  the  few 
things  by  which  the  daughter  before  she  was  married  might  make 
herself  useful  in  a  nomadic  household,  was  the  milking  of  the 
cattle,  and  it  discloses  a  kind  of  delicacy  and  humour  even  in  the 
rudest  state  of  society,  if  we  imagine  a  father  calling  his  (little) 
daughter  (as  he  dandled  her  on  his  knee)  his  little  milkmaid, 
rather  than  suta,  his  begotten,  or  filia,  the  suckling."  (M.  M.) 

But  the  fact  that  the  Sanskrit  language  throws  light  upon  the 
history  of  the  word  "  daughter,"  and  to  a  certain  small  but  beau- 
tiful extent  on  the  early  history  of  the  Aryan  races,  may  not  tend 
to  make  the  more  sceptical  of  our  Highland  friends  believe  that 
gems  of  valuable  truth  can  be  discovered  in  the  beautiful  lauguage 
which  is  their  mother  tongue  and  far  less  that  there  is  meaning  in 
those  stories  which  gladdened  their  childish  years. 

We  shall  therefore  examine  one  little  myth  and  endeavour  to 
find  what  its  meaning  is.  The  bane  of  philosophy  is  pomposity, 
and  so  we  shall  confine  our  attention  to  one  of  the  simplest  of  the 
sayings  of  some  of  our  people,  and  what  to  many  may  appear  one 
of  the  silliest  of  such  sayings. 

In  the  days  of  my  boyhood,  I  used  to  hear  in  the  Island  of 
Lewis  a  greut  many  stories  (to  me  at  that  time  fascinating  stories) 
about  ghosts,  second-sight,  peculiar  remedies,  fairies,  trolls, 
brownies,  <fec.  I  became  particularly  interested  in  the  elfin  in- 
habitants of  hillocks  green,  and  although  I  somewhat  feared  them, 
I  had,  I  suppose  like  most  boys,  a  strong  desire  to  see  them  ;  and 
in  consequence  I  often  asked  those  who,  in  my  opinion  should 
know  such  mysteries,  what  had  become  of  the  fairies  ?  Where 
were  they  now  1  Were  they  ever  seen  in  our  day  ?  The  invariable 
answer  which  I  got  is  the  myth  to  which  I  now  wish  to  direct 
your  attention.  It  was  the  following  : — "  T/iey  left  this  country 
when  the  gospel  came,  and  they  have  not  re-appeared  since,  and 
inhere  tJwynow  are  we  cannot  tell." 

Has  this  language  any  meaning1?  Is  it  one  of  the  myths  that 
an  ordinary  collector  would  be  ready  to  write  down  in  his  note 
book  1  or  would  he  be  more  likely  to  pass  it  over  as  a  silly  High- 
land superstition  ?  If  it  can  be  proved  that  even  this  has  a  mean- 
ing— that  even  this  apparently  foolish  answer  contains  a  beautiful 
kernel-of  truth  are,  we  not  justified  in  expecting  that  other  similar 


U2  TRANSACTIONS. 

sayings  have  also  a  signification  of  their  own,  although  that  signi- 
fication may  not  yet  have  been  discovered  ? 

I  need  scarcely  say  that  no  educated  man  believes,  in  our  day, 
that  fairies  once  lived  in  a  mysterious  fashion  in  hillocks  green, 
or  that  they  really  performed  the  various  deeds  of  wonder  as- 
cribed to  them  in  the  legends  of  almost  all  lands.  At  the  same 
time  no  educated  man  doubts  that  they  existed  somewhere.  If 
we  doubt  this,  we  must  believe  what  is  still  more  incredible,  viz., 
that  in  the  dark  ages  a  certain  number  of  men  were  clever  enough 
to  weave  together  a  tissue  of  incredible  lies  which  other  men,  no 
less  clever,  were  stupid  enough  to  believe.  Nor  can  there  scarcely 
be  a  greater  mistake  than  to  imagine  that  whole  nations,  at  a  cer- 
tain period  of  their  history,  were  seized  with  a  frenzy  for  manu- 
facturing incredible  stories  ;  and  yet  stories  which,  taken  literally, 
are  incredible  can  be  found  among  all  races. 

The  truth  is  that  fairies  did  exist  in  those  dark  ages  which 
proceeded  the  dawn  of  knowledge — they  existed  in  the  minds  and 
imaginations  of  men.  It  is  not  our  present  business  to  determine 
how  they  came  'there,  but  even  this  difficult  problem  has  been 
grappled  with  and  to  a  certain  extent  solved.  Fairies  once  lodged 
in  the  imaginations  of  men,  but  when  that  beautiful  light  from 
on  high  began  to  shine — that  beautiful  light  which  we  call  the 
Gospel — the  darkness  with  its  delusions  and  shadows  vanished,  the 
college  of  fairies  and  the  ghastly  regiment  of  ghosts  disappeared — 
disappeared  not  from  green  hillocks  or  dismal  glens,  for  they  never 
were  there,  but  from  the  minds  of  those  men  in  whose  imagin- 
ations they  had  found  a  habitation.  Thus,  then  our  Highland 
friendsare  notwrong  when  they  tell  usthatthe  fairies  disappeared, — 
left  the  country  when  the  Gospel  came  ;  but  they  do  not  all  under- 
stand the  full  beauty  and  significance  of  the  language  which  they 
employ. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  saying  which  some  of  us  once  thought 
so  silly  gives  us  a  valuable  lesson  ;  it  lifts  the  curtains  and  gives  us 
at  least  one  peep  through  the  vistas  of  the  past  enabling  us  to 
behold  one  interesting  stage  in  the  development  of  mind.  We  see 
the  delusions  of  the  dark  ages  disappearing  before  the  beams  of 
the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  as  the  shadows  and  darkness  of  night 
vanish  before  the  rays  of  the  morning. 

Our  time  forbids  us  to  follow  up  this  department  of  our  sub- 
ject any  further ;  but  I  may,  perhaps,  be  allowed  to  add  that  if 
any  one  doubts  that  much  good  and  much  pleasure  can  be  derived 
from  the  studying  of  this  branch  of  science,  he  will  find  that  his 


HIGHLAND    LEGENDS.  113 

doubts  will  vanish  before  the  light  which  the  science  itself  will 
bring,  as  the  fairies  and  trolls  of  the  days  of  old  vanished  before 
the  light  of  the  centuries  in  which  we  live. 

It  is  undeniable  that  a  great  deal  of  nonsense  has  been  spoken 
and  written  about  legends,  but  let  this  discourage  no  one,  for  it  is 
equally  true  that  botany  was  once  in  a  crude  condition,  and  that 
the  Ptolemaic  system  of  astronomy  was  based  on  a  wrong  con- 
ception. The  study  of  geology  is  now  established  on  a  scientific 
foundation,  and  no  one  is  kept  back  from  it  on  account  of  the  fact 
that  there  was  once  a  time  when  the  theory  was  advanced  that 
fossils  were  due  to  the  agency  of  the  devil.  So  with  us,  it  is  not 
with  the  failures  of  our  science  that  we  have  to  deal  but  with  the 
sti'ides  which  it  has  been  making  into  the  kingdom  of  truth.  Dis- 
coveries have  been  already  made  in  this  mine  which  in  the  opinion 
of  some  of  our  very  best  thinkers  are  "  not  inferior,  whether  in 
novelty  or  importance,  to  the  most  brilliant  discoveries  of  our 
age." 

III. — In  the  third  place,  I  think  that  now  is  the  time  when  a 
society  such  as  oiirs  should  put  forth  its  best  energies  to  collect  all 
the  legends  and  all  that  belong  to  legendary  lore  in  the  Highlands. 
Unless  we  are  ah-eady  too  late,  we  are  not  too  early.  Languages 
grow  and  decay ;  and,  as  the  Provengal,  in  which  the  poetry  of 
the  Troubadours  was  written,  attained,  at  one  time,  a  high  degree 
of  literary  excellence,  but  is  now  degenerated  into  a  mere  patois,  we 
find  that  the  Gaelic  which  shortly  before  the  time  of  the  Reformation 
possessed  a  literary  vigour  of  which  its  socs  might  well  be  proud, 
has  since  been  on  the  wane.  [t  seems  to  me  that  we  have 
one  proof  that  our  language  is  dying  out,  even  in  the  fact  that 
the  Celtic  Chair  in  Edinburgh  is  being  established,  not  by  an 
enthusiastic  Celt,  but  by  a  distinguished  Saxon.  Should,  however, 
the  Gaelic  die  out  in  a  few  years,  it  would  leave  behind  it  a  legacy 
of  which  we  have  no  reason  to  be  ashamed;  but  that  is  no  argu- 
ment why  we  should  not  endeavour  to  increase  its  literature  now 
if  we  can.  Many  a  language  has  died  svithout  leaving  any  litera- 
ture, while  that  left  by  the  other  dead  languages  is  very  small;  for 
example,  all  that  we  have  of  the  old  Prussian  which  died  in  the 
1 7th  century  is  an  old  catechism  ;  while  all  the  literary  work  that 
remains  of  the  Gothic  is  a  trannlation  of  the  Bible.  In  comparison 
with  such  languages  the  Gaelic  stands  high,  yet  the  stern  fact 
remains  that  its  sun  is  setting.  And  it  is  just  because  the  Gaelic 
language  is  dying  that  we  should  now  put  forth  our  utmost  efforts 
to  glean  from  it  as  much  as  can  be  gleaned  ere  the  harvest  is  past. 

H 


114  TRANSACTIONS. 

Let  us  suppose  that  a  range  of  lofty  mountains  like  the  Andes, 
were  split  from  summit  to  base  by  volcanic  action  and  that  in  the 
immense  rents  and  fissures  formed,  there  were  laid  bare  myriads 
of  fossils  both  flora  and  fauna.  If  all  species  of  known  fossils 
were  there  as  well  as  petrifactions  of  innumerable  species  that 
hitherto  had  escaped  geological  research,  it  would  seem  as  if  then 
the  science  of  geology  was  made  easy.  If,  however,  it  was  dis- 
covered that  through  some  mysterious  chemical  agency  a  large 
number  of  specimens  was  continually  disappearing,  the  anxiety  of 
geologists  would  naturally  become  very  intense ;  and,  to  save  the 
whole  from  passing  into  oblivion,  deputations  would  be  sent  from 
all  civilised  countries  to  examine  and  place  on  record  what  yet 
remained  visible.  Further,  the  geologists  would  arrange  them- 
selves into  convenient  classes ;  and  the  members  of  each  class 
would  proceed  bo  study  those  strata  with  which  they  were  most 
familiar.  This  would  be  desirable  and  natural.  But  in  one  sense 
the  opening  has  been  made  into  the  strata  of  language  by  the 
discovery  of  Sanskrit.  By  this  discovery  the  student  of 
language  is  enabled  to  examine  the  fossil  poetry  of  the  Aryan 
races  through  the  strata  of  many  centuries,  and  "  if  Hegel  calls  the 
discovery  of  the  common  origin  of  Greek  and  Sanskrit  the  dis- 
covery of  a  new  world,  the  same  may  be  said  with  regard  to  the 
common  origin  of  Greek  and  Sanskrit  mythology ;"  nay  further, 
it  may  be  said  with  regard  to  the  still  more  interesting  discovery 
that  the  myths  and  legends  of  all  the  Aryan  nations  are  closely 
related  to  one  another,  and  seem  to  have  sprung  from  a  common 
source.  Whether  we  examine  the  songs  of  the  Edda  or 
the  hymns  of  the  Verla,  whether  we  walk  among  the  sno\vs 
of  Iceland  or  along  the  borders  of  the  Seven  Rivers,  stories 
closely  resembling  one  another  can  be  heard.  This  is  a  modern 
discovery  and  therefore  we  who  know  this  should  be  more  in- 
terested in  the  collecting  of  myths  and  legends  than  our  predeces- 
sors who  did  not  and  could  not  know  it.  Are  we  so  interested  1 
The  students  of  geology  aue  legion,  why  are  the  students  of  this 
interesting  branch  of  the  science  of  language  so  few  1  Geology  is 
an  interesting  study,  but  it  does  not  surely  possess  so  much  human 
interest  as  the  study  of  the  language,  the  legends,  the  scraps  of 
poetry  and  the  fragments  of  prose,  which  have  floated  down  to  us 
on  the  tide  of  yeai-s  from  the  time  when  they  were  living  realities 
in  the  minds  of  our  ancestors.  To  know  what  our  ancestors  in 
the  far  distant  past  hoped  and  feared,  thought  and  desired,  should 
be  of  more  interest  to  us  than  to  know  what  weeds  once  grew  on 


HIGHLAND    LEGENDS.  115 

the  soil   which   we  cultivate,    or   what   reptiles  crawled  over  the 
landscapes  which  we  admire,  or  what  Crustacea  once  lived  in  the 
ocean  over  the  billows  of  which  we  sail.        The  tablets  of  Karnak, 
the  palaces  of  Nineveh,   the   cylinders  of  Babylon,  the  catacombs 
of  Rome  and  of  Egypt  and  the  earthquake  shaken  forum  of  guilty 
Pompeii  have  all  been  examined  ;    but  these  tell  us    little  of  the 
past    in    comparison    with    myths,     words    and    legends.       The 
study    of   ancient    ruins    is   interesting,  and    the    study    of    the 
flora  and   fauna  which   we  find  imbedded  in  the  solid  rocks   is 
perhaps  no  less  so,  but  the  study  of  those  fossils  whish  we  find  in 
language  transcends  them  all.        Therefore  we  trust  that  willing 
labourers  will  be  found  in  our  Highland  glens,  especially  since  we 
know  that,  although  their  is  not  much  danger  of  a  chemical  agency 
which  will  destroy  the  writings  inscribed  on  the  foundations  of  the 
everlasting  hills,  yet  the  fossils  petrified  in  the  strata  of  language  are 
dying  out,  and  the  probability,  nay  almost  the  certainty,  is  that 
each  year  sees  the  obliteration  of  specimens  which  can  never  be 
recovered.        Only  forty-two  years  have  elapsed  since  the  Brothers 
Grimm  published  the  "Mahrchen,"  yet  Professor  Max  Muller  says, 
"  Fifty  years  hence  the  collection  of  these  stories  may  become  as 
valuable  as  the  few  remaining  bones  of  the  DoJo.  Stories,  become 
extinct  like   Dodos  and  Mega  the  ria,   and    they  die  out  so  rapidly 
that  in  Germany  for  instance,  it  would  be  impossible  at  preesnt  to 
discover  traces  of  many  of  the  stories  which  the  Brothers  Grimm 
and  their  friends  caught  up  from  the  mouth  of  an  old  granny  or  a 
village  doctor  half  a  century  ago."       This  being  so,  it  is  manifest 
that  all  the  legends  which  are  still  floating  in  the  language  of  our 
people  should   be  gathered   as   soon  as  possible.        We  know  not 
what  havoc  the  decay  of  our  language  may  be  making  among  our 
legends.        It  is  probable  that,  at  this  very  hour,  there  are  legends 
trembling  on  the  confines  of  the  land  of  oblivion.       Let  us  capture 
them  ere  they   vanish   into  the  undiscovered  country  from  whose 
bourn  no  traveller  returns. 

But  if  our  subject  is  more  interesting  than  geology,  which  also 
is  interesting,  why  do  we  find  so  few  among  us  studying  it  while 
enthusiasts  in  the  latter  science  may  be  found  in  all  civilised  lands. 
In  answer  to  this,  let  me  ask  why  do  those  who  live  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  a  battlefield,  show  less  interest  in  it  than  those 
who  come  to  visit  it  from  a  distance  1  If  a  beaut  ful  plant  were 
brought  to  Inverness  from  one  of  the  Coral  Islands  of  the  Pacific, 
we  would  all  take  pleasure  in  examining  its  root,  stem,  leaves, 
flower,  calyx,  stamina  and  pistils.  How  many  persons  in  our 

H  2 


116  TRA  NS  ACTIONS. 

country  have  put  themselves  to  the  trouble  of  studying  that  per- 
haps no  less  beautiful  crimson  tipped  flower  which  not  only  adorns 
every  lawn,  but  which  also  kindled  the  poetic  spirit  of  Robert  Burns 
into  song.  We  overlook  and  almost  forget  the  constant,  while  our  at- 
tention is  ri  vetted  by  the  variable;  the  phenomena  with  which  we  are 
the  most  familiar,  are  just  those  which  are  the  moie  ready  to 
escape  our  notice.  Words  which  we  hear  every  hour,  customs 
which  we  see  every  day,  legends  which  we  have  heard  repeated 
scores  of  times  seem  so  common-place  and  natural  that  we  never 
dream,  of  asking  what  they  mean.  We  must  mentally  place  our- 
selves outside  the  familiar  and  gaze  upon  it  from  a  distance  as  if 
through  a  telescope,  before  the  fact  that  it  has  a  meaning  begins  to 
dawn  upon  our  minds.  It  is  then  that  the  familiar 

"Will  inn 

A  glory  from  its  being  far 
And  orb  into  the  perfect  star, 
We  saw  not,  when  we  moved  therein. " 

Even  customs  which  in  themselves  appear  trivial,  have  a  history 
and  signification  of  their  own.  We  saw  gentlemen  a  thousand 
times  removing  their  gloves  previous  to  shaking  hands  with  a  lady, 
before  we  thought  of  asking  what  this  custom  meant.  But  when 
we  learned  that  there  was  once  a  time  when  a  knight's  glove  was 
a  steel  gauntlet,  a  squeeze  with  which  would  not  be  pleasant,  light 
dawned  upon  our  eyes  and  the  apparently  useless  habit  had  a 
halo  of  meaning  shed  around  it.  We  welcome  our  friends  in  this 
country  by  shaking  hands  with  them,  or  if  our  affection  be  very 
strong  and  mutual  we  may  kiss  them.  We  are  so  familiar  with 
these  customs  that  we  call  them  natural  and  imagine  that  all 
human  beings  do  the  same ;  yet,  in  New  Zealand,  in 
some  parts  of  China  and  of  the  Lapland  Alps,  the  salutation 
is  made  by  a  rubbing  of  noses.  It  is  when  we  learn  such 
facts  that  we  begin  to  be  really  convinced  that  we  are  the  slaves  of 
habit.  Nay,  so  thoroughly  are  we  the  slaves  of  habit  that  it  is 
impossible  for  us  to  imagine  that  New  Zealanders,  when  their 
noses  rub  together,  experience  the  waves  of  feeling  similar  to  those 
of  which  we  are  conscious  when  we  clasp  the  hand  of  a  friend.  - 

Every  custom  has  its  own  meaning  and  history,  as  certainly  as 
the  fact  that  a  lady  when  walking  with  a  gentleman  places  herself 
on  his  left  hand  side,  or  that  the  Highlander's  settle  is  always 
placed  in  a  definite  position  relative  to  the  door,  has  a  meaning. 
Customs  like  flora  and  fauna  are  fossils,  and  it  is  a  truism  to 


HIGHLAND    LEGENDS.  117 

remark  that  we  in  the  Highlands  have  customs  which  to  a  certain 
extent  are  peculiar  to  ourselves  ;  and,  as  each  custom  grew  in  a 
definite  way  and  has  its  meaning,  it  cannot  be  called  a 
vain  study  to  inquire  what  that  meaning  is.  Further,  now  is  the 
time  to  inquire  what  our  customs  are,  and  what  their  signification 
is,  for,  as  our  language  is  dying  out  before  the  ix>yal  advance  of 
the  English  language,  so  are  our  customs  vanishing  before  the 
encroachments  of  the  steam-ship,  the  railroad  and  the  daily  news- 
paper. 

IV. — In  the  fourth  and  last  place,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that 
while  the  collecting  of  legends  and  myths  is  a  pleasant  and  profi- 
table study,  it  has,  like  all  other  branches  of  learning,  difficulties 
peculiar  to  itself. 

(1).  I  discovered  in  some  parts  of  the  North,  what  has  been 
indeed  discovered  in  other  parts  ol  the  world,  that  some  of  the  old 
people  who  are  the  repositories  of  ancient  stories  are  often  ashamed 
of  them.  They  can  haixlly  believe  that  the  collector's  enthusiasm 
is  real ;  they  imagine  that  it  is  his  intention  to  ridicule  them ; 
and  hence  one  requires  to  practise  very  great  care  and  modesty  and 
skill  to  induce  them  to  reveal  all  they  know.  Their  mind  like  a 
sensitive  plant,  closes  up  its  petals  at  the  first  nide  contact.  It  is 
only  in  the  full  sunshine  of  genial  intercourse  that  the  petals 
spread  and  shed  their  fragrance.  This  should  not  be.  Neither 
we  nor  our  people  have  any  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  that  which  in 
itself  or  in  its  relations  is  not  wrong.  Legends,  myths,  customs 
and  words  are  natural  phenomena  worthy  of  the  philosopher's 
deepest  study,  and  he  who  knows  the  legend  or  is  familiar  with  the 
custom,  should  not  hesitate  to  make  the  facts  known,  for  facts  are 
important  factors  in  all  branches  of  science. 

(2).  It  will  be  difficult  for  those  collectors  Avho  have  been 
reared  in  the  North,  and  who  have  from  their  earliest  years 
breathed  the  very  atmosphere  which  contains  the  phenomena  to  be 
observed,  to  make  themselves  conscious  of  even  the  existence  of 
these  phenomena.  In  other  words  it  will  not  be  easy  for  them  to 
have  the  seeing  eye  and  the  hearing  ear.  In  a  culti- 
vated community  the  child  soon  learns  to  understand  what 
pictures  mean  and  to  distinguish  one  picture  from  another, 
while  a  gr^wn  up  savage  can  see  in  the  best  picture  only  lines  and 
sci-atches  and  colour.  The  savage  is  so  utterly  unfamiliar  with 
pictures,  that  he  must  pass  through  a  long  course  of  training  before 
he  perceives  their  significance.  We,  on  the  other  hand,  are  so 
exceedingly  familiar  with  the  phenomena  at  play  around  us  that 


118  TRANSACTIONS. 

we  require  a  course  of  training  to  make  us  capable  of  perceiving 
that  there  are  phenomena  to  study  and  that  these  phenomena,  how 
familiar  soever  they  are,  have  phases  of  which  the  ignorant  never 
dream. 

Very  much  can  be  done  in  the  way  of  clarifying  the  perceptive 
vision,  by  studying  the  legends  and  customs  of  distant  nations  and 
divers  races,  especially  those  of  Iceland.  We  are  told  by  the  very 
best  authorities  that  "  the  Icelandic  contains  the  key  to  many  a 
riddle  in  the  English  language,  and  to  many  a  mystery  in  the 
English  character,"  but  the  more  we  understand  the  English 
character  the  better  will  we  measure  that  of  the  Celt. 

(3).  The  last  difficulty  to  which  we  shall  refer  is  that  of  getting 
the  legends  in  their  natural  condition.  As  fossils  run  the  risk  of 
being  destroyed  both  in  the  quarry  in  which  they  are  found,  and 
in  the  hands  of  an  unskilled  geologist,  so  both  those  who  have  the 
legends  to  tell  and  those  who  have  them  to  write  may,  unless  they 
are  careful,  destroy  the  beauty  and  obscure  the  meaning  of  the 
specimens.  There  is  a  strong  temptation  to  improve  upon  legends, 
i.e.,  of  course,  to  improve  upon  them  from  the  improver's  point  of 
view.  There  is  a  risk  that  certain  portions  may  be  lopped  off  as 
worthless,  and  that  certain  words  may  be  dropped  in  favour  of 
others  which  may  perhaps  be  thought  to  have  a  more  poetic  ring. 

Imagine  a  quarrier  or  a  mason  finding  some  splendid  speci- 
mens of  fossils  and  then  endeavouring  to  improve  their  appearance 
by  polishing  or  otherwise,  before  bringing  them  to  the  geologist ; 
imagine  a  ploughman  discovering  an  urn  containing  very  ancient 
coins  and  trying  to  increase  the  value  of  his  treasure-trove  by 
drawing  new  figures  on  the  urn  or  inscribing  new  writings  on  the 
coins  ;  imagine  some  one  finding  a  rare  and  beauteous  flower  and 
then  lopping  off  certain  leaves  and  painting  others  before  bringing 
it  to  the  botanist ;  imagine  a  servant  fond  of  loud  colours,  trying 
to  improve  the  paintings  on  the  walls  of  some  baronial  hall  by 
giving  some  tints  a  brighter  hue  and  some  figures  a  more  bold 
appearance,  and  when  you  have  imagined  this  you  have  imagined 
nothing  more  absurd  than  what  is  sometimes  done  by  those  who 
attempt  to  adorn  legends  and  myths.  Therefore  we  would  venture 
to  say  to  those  who  are  young  in  this  department  of  science — as 
you  would  make  it  a  rule  to  bring  the  fossil  in  its  native  condition 
to  the  geologist,  as  you  would  bring  the  ancient  coins  untouched 
to  the  antiquarian,  as  you  would  bring  the  fair  and  beauteous 
flower  unimpaired  to  the  botanist,  as  you  would  not  try  to  im- 
prove the  frescoes  of  an  Angelo,  or  the  paintings  of  a  Raphael,  so 


HIGHLAND    LEGENDS.  119 

bring  all  the  legends  which  you  can  find  and  all  the  myths  which 
you  can  discover,  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Inverness  Gaelic  Society, 
and  bring  them  in  their  natural  condition.  Let  him  have,  not 
improved  editions,  but  the  ipsissima,  verba.  Every  word  which 
is  changed,  in  a  legend  every  line  which  may  seem  to  be 
improved,  every  tint  which  is  made  more  vivid,  may  tend  to  make 
the  fossil  appza/r  more  beautiful,  but  it  is  not  necessarily  in  the 
beauty  (from  this  point  of  view)  of  its  words,  or  the  rhythm  of  its 
sentences  that  the  value  of  a  legend  lies,  but  in  the  germ  of  truth 
which  it  encases,  and  while  improving  the  legend  you  may,  perhaps, 
extinguish  its  life. 

As  an  illustration  of  how  important  single  words  are  ;  nay,  as 
an  illustration  of  what  vast  consequences  may  follow  the  changing 
of  even  a  portion  of  a  word  let  us  refer  to  India  where  it  was 
for  centuries  a  custom  to  burn  widows  in  the  same  flame  in  which 
the  bodies  of  their  dead  husbands  were  consumed.  The  Brahrnans 
maintained  that  this  cruel  rite  was  commanded  in  their 
sacred  books.  The  Rig-Veda  has  been  examined  by  European 
scholars  and  no  such  command  was  found  in  it,  but  it  was 
discovered  that  the  Brahrnans  changed  in  the  verse  which  was 
said  to  contain  the  command  referred  to,  the  word  agre  (altar)  to 
the  word  agnzh  (fire).  This  seems  a  trivial  change,  yet  it  was, 
we  are  told,  sufficient  to  consign  thousands  upon,  thousands  of 
females  to  a  cruel  death. 

Of  course  no  such  dire  results  as  the  above  can  possibly  follow 
any  changes  which  we  may  make  upon  our  legends,  yet  it  shows 
how  the  modifying  of  even  a  single  syllable  may  make  the  unravel- 
ling of  a  legend's  meaning  more  difficult ;  and  it  shows  further  the 
importance  of  our  gathering  every  attainable  edition  of  each 
legend,  so  as  to  be  enabled,  by  making  cornpai-isons  between  them 
all  to  arrive  at  what  we  may  designate  the  true  meaning.  If  a 
single  word  is  lost  or  modified,  it  might  be  the  very  word  on  which 
the  meaning  hinges.  Therefore  in  collecting  our  legends  let  us 
remember  that  they  are  "when  unadorned,  adorned  the  most."  The 
fact  that  a  legend  has  already  found  its  way  into  print,  is  no  reason 
why  it  should  be  omitted  in  a  new  collection  if  a  difference  be 
found  to  exist  between  the  new  edition  and  the  old. 

The  great  German  philosopher  Leibnitz,  "pointed  out  long  ago 
the  importance  of  dialects,  and  even  of  provincial  and  local  terms, 
for  elucidating  the  etymological  structure  of  language"  and  the 
principle  as  we  have  endeavoured  to  prove,  is  no  less  true  of 
mythology  and  folk  lore. 


120  TRANSACTIONS. 

22ND  FEBRUARY,   1877. 

At  the  meeting  on  this  date,  Mr  Win.  Nicolson,  Whitecroft, 
Lydney,  and  Mr  John  G.  Mackay,  118  Plantation  Street,  Glasgow, 
were  elected  ordinary  members.  Thereafter,  the  Secretary,  on  be- 
half of  Mr  Donald  Ross,  M.A.,  H.  M.'s  Inspector  of  Schools,  read 
the  following  paper  on 

"THE  COSMOS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GAELS,  IN  ITS 
RELATION  TO  THEIR  ETHICS." 

PART  I. 

The  past  few  years  form  a  remarkable  era  in  the  history  and 
growth  of  general  Celtic  and  especially  of  Gaelic  scholarship.  Our 
age  has  not  yet  worked  itself  out  of  the  dull  inheritance  of  com- 
promise, nor  laid  itself  free  from  the  grossness  of  its  preceding 
unreason.  But,  with  all  the  grossness  of  its  heritage  and  its 
undoubted  tendency  to  ignore  the  spiritual  interpretation  of  the 
Universe,  or,  at  best,  to  profess  itself  satisfied  with  an  uncertain 
reflection  of  high  spiritual  truths  in  such  imperfections  as  the 
gospel  of  success  and  its  adjuncts,  this  age,  this  latter  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  embraces  conditions  which  in  their  interaction 
are  already  converting  its  outcome  into  the  hopeful  basis  of  more 
enlarged  science.  For  one  thing  and  markedly  it  has  grasped, 
not  indeed  universally,  nor  with  equal  emphasis  in  all  quarters, 
though  for  the  first  time  in  this  country,  the  great  principle  of 
evolution  or  development — the  active  result  of  a  will  or  power 
which  no  effort  of  man,  or  of  any  combination  of  men  can 
thwart  or  in  any  way  repress.  We  have  not,  it  is  true,  grasped 
that  principle  in  its  entirety,  or  purely  in  itself ;  we  express  it,  as 
we  gi-asp  it,  in  the  dull,  untechnical  forms  of  our  age  and  nation — 
in  terms  of  experience,  or  in  terms  of  fact.  But  this  very  narrow- 
ness of  range  and  feebleness  of  interpretative  effort  mean  an  intense 
concentration  upon  fact.  And  so,  mainly  it  is,  that  it  justly  claims 
to  be  an  age  of  strict  scrutiny,  of  research  carried  to  the  verge  of 
scepticism,  and,  along  with  these,  a  keen  sense  for  facts,  which  it 
gathers  with  diligence  and  treasures  up  for  the  interpretation 
which  the  stronger  light  of  a  less  gross  and  less  genei-ally  distrust- 
ful era  will  reveal.  Though,  in  the  main,  it  has  hitherto  clung  to 
small  doctrines,  and  pinned  its  faith,  especially  in  late  years  to  the 
meagre  and  somewhat  pert  gospel  of  isolated  facts,  there  is  no 
reason  why  we  should  picture  out  a  lugubrious  future,  or  confine 


THE    COSMOS    OF    THE    ANCIENT  GAELS.  121 

our  thoughts  to  the  things  which  are  at  hand,  partly  because,  in  its 
keen  spirit  of  distrust,  it  deals  as  mercilessly  with  the  shains  and 
vivid  unrealities  of  the  past  as  with  the  loftier  aspirations  of  the 
pre.sent ;  partly  also  because  keen  criticism  and  active  research  have 
always  heralded  calm,  firm  and  purer  eras ;  but  mainly  because 
one  already  sees  the  vast  accumulations  of  gathered  facts  yielding 
up  their  meaning,  gradually  though  slowly  transforming  themselves 
into  truths,  principles  and  laws,  one  of  which  is  this  partial 
expression  of  evolution  and  development.  The  past  is  being 
closely  questioned,  through  every  discovered  fragment  of  its 
remains,  and  these  fragments  have  been  brought  to  light  from  many 
quarters  of  whose  existence  our  grandfathers  have  had  no  idea. 
Development  was  known  to  all  great  minds,  in  all  ages,  at  least 
from  that  of  Plato  downwards,  but  not  as  stretching  along  the 
lines  in  which  we  now  see  its  effects.  Posterity  will  trace  the 
course  of  development,  if  not  through  other  and  clearer  forms, 
then  certainly  in  a  clearer  light,  and  through  its  laws  and  the 
aid  of  higher  principles  which  govern  even  those  laws,  run  up  the 
gathered  facts  and  inductions  of  our  era  into  a  fabric  of  rationally 
deduced  and  rationally  constructed  truth. 

One  notable  way  in  which  the  spirit  of  this  age  shows  itself  is 
the  thorough  sifting  of  the  things  of  outer  sense  from  those  of  inner 
•fancy,  or  in  laying  open  the  line  between  the  world  around  us  and 
the  world  within  us.  The  result  seems  to  me  to  be  one  of  high 
literary  significance.  Into  this  very  fertile  field  I  do  not  now 
enter ;  bub  I  tacitly  pre-suppose  a  few  literary  canons  which 
research  and  criticism  have  brought  to  the  clearer  exposition  of 
history. 

But,  do  the  Gaelic  people,  does  the  average  Celtic  mind,  share 
in  the  dominant  spirit  of  the  age,  or  in  the  general  ideas,  opinions 
and  principles  which  the  progressive  mind  of  modern  Europe  now 
enunciates  and  articulates  1  Whether  or  not  there  be  a  sneaking 
mendacity  beneath  the  surface  of  our  institutions,  above  it  at  all  events 
we  see  an  intense  reverence  for  fact,  for  things  which  are,  and  which 
are  at  hand.  Along  with  this  we  see,  not  indeed  an  intolerance  of  the 
luxuries  of  the  imagination,  but  a  laudable  desire  to  push  literary 
fiction  within  well  defined  and  profitable  limits,  a  keen  recognition 
of  mythopoeic  elements,  tendencies  and  laws,  a  severance  along 
the  lines  of  history  of  the  actualities  of  fact  from  their  subsequent 
excrescences,  and  a  dogged  desire  to  verify  principles  through 
examples.  Aggressive  people  that  had  won  solid  empire  in  various 
directions,  have  always  possessed  a  keen  and  strong  faculty  for  the 


122  TRANSACTIONS. 

objects  of  outer  sense,  as  well  as  patience,  hope  and  the  power  to 
grasp,  group  and  analyze  the  data  of  sense-experience.  But  the 
Celtic  races,  it  has  repeatedly  been  argued,  have  not,  at  least  for 
many  centuries,  been  remarkable  for  the  possession  of  these  or  any 
such  microscopic  faculties ;  and  hence  the  Celtic  niind  has  never 
been  face  to  face  with  a  large  class  of  realities.  Fire,  brilliancy, 
uncertain  insight,  were  allowed,  though  often  under  protest,  to  be 
factors  in  the  Celtic  niind  and  genius,  but  persistence,  concentra- 
tion, and  a  sense  for  objective  reality  and  gathered,  or  transmitted 
facts,  were  denied  to  its  composition.  The  Teutonic  world,  with 
some  degree  of  justice  to  prompt  its  verdict  and  the  expression  of  it, 
has  hitherto  been  in  the  habit  of  disposing  of  the  claims  of  Gaelic 
effort,  if  not  by  a  patronising  sneer,  then  at  best  by  relegating  its 
literary  products  to  what  was  assumed,  without  much  scrutiny,  to 
be  the  proper  platform  in  the  pyramid  of  thought.  That,  however, 
is  of  the  past ;  and  now  the  verdict  of  criticism  on  the  Celtic 
modes  of  thought  and  the  general  Celtic  heritage  of  the  country  is 
rather  the  other  way.  Those  who  analyse  the  character  of  our 
institutions  and  the  phases  of  our  literature,  in  a  competent  spirit, 
no  longer  refrain  from  pointing  to  the  source  of  much  of  what  is 
purest  and  best  in  our  rules  of  taste,  our  types  and  ideals  of  beauty, 
and  in  our  appreciation  of  the  lofty,  the  indefinite  and  the  spiri- 
tual. The  admission  is  now  not  only  much  more  common  than ' 
formerly,  but  even  backed  up  with  more  than  a  mere  semblance  of 
earnest  emphasis,  that  the  slow  and  silent  infusion  of  Celtic  forces, 
of  fire,  brilliancy  and  energy  into  the  national  fibre,  and  generally 
into  the  growth  and  working  of  our  institutions,  has  saved  the 
nation  from  grosser  courses — from  the  sway  of  gross  methods. 

There  is  a  wide  and  hopeful  significance  in  the  efforts  which 
Gaeldom  itself  in  particular  is  now  putting  forth  both  to  per- 
petuate its  spirit,  moods  and  forms,  and  to  renew  its  past,  partly 
through  the  perpetuation  and  partly  otherwise.  That  there  is  and 
can  be  no  permanence,  except  that  of  change  itself  is  a  truth  which 
only  a  few  can  recognise  ;  but  it  is  a  truth — pei'haps  the  radical 
truth — nevertheless.  And  it  clustres  around  the  set  of  ideas 
which  we  vaguely  construe  as  evolution.  As  a  living,  spoken, 
actual  language,  Gaelic  must  soon  pass  away.  What  was  best  in  the 
Gaelic  spirit,  must  remain,  although  in  alien  forms.  Partly 
through  conscious  effort,  but  chiefly  through  means  of  which  it  is 
not  conscious,  the  races  who  spoke  and  formed  that  language,  which 
is  now  yielding  in  favour  of  the  stronger  and  more  aggressive 
Saxon  tongue,  seem  resolved  wisely  to  accept  the  inevitable  and 


THE    COSMOS    OF    THE    ANCIEXT    GAELS.  123 

to  preserve  and  fructify  the  treasures  wrapt  up  in  the  obscure 
recesses  of  the  vanishing  Gaelic.  It  will  probably  be  the  case  that 
the  same  relationship  will  be  established  between  the  Gaelic  of  the 
North  Highlands  and  the  Celtic  Chair  at  Edinburgh,  that  already 
seems  to  be  springing  up  between  Welsh  and  the  corresponding 
chair  at  Oxford.  That  a  fine  halo  of  enthusiasm  surrounds  the 
founding  of  the  former,  and  that  general  Gaelic  scholarship  owes 
much  to  this  enthusiasm  and  its  collateral  feelings  are  pleasing 
facts,  which  have  their  meaning.  Research  in  the  possible  field  of 
Celtic  scholarship  and  keen  analysis  of  its  results  assume  more 
productive  forms  than  mere  enthusiasm,  and  certainly  than  that 
not  uncommon  kind  of  it  which  falls  short  of  positive  purpose. 
For  the  present,  I  do  not,  in  any  way,  refer  to  the 
effect  upon  philological  activity  or  scholarship  as  such  of 
the  founding  of  these  Celtic  Chairs.  That  interesting  pro- 
blem is  now  passed  over  in  favour  of  a  few  indefinite 
thoughts  which  some  of  the  antecedenes  or  causes,  concomitants  or 
effects  of  the  enthusiasm  suggest.  Nor,  again,  is  reference  here 
made  to  the  more  outstanding  products  of  scholarly  and  other 
research — to  such  work  as  Celtic  Scotland,  the  most  substantial 
piece  of  literary  workmanship  affecting  Celtic  scholarship  yet  pro- 
duced in  this  country,  to  what  may  be  called  the  Cymric  section  of 
the  Revue  Celtique,  to  the  brilliant  but  disjointed  volume  on 
Ossian  and  the  Clyde,  or  to  the  multitudinous  assemblage  of 
unsifted  myth  and  story  that  enter  into  the  pages  of  the  existing 
Gaelic  monthlies  and  even  into  those  of  the  Gaelic.  Society.  That 
heterogeneous  though  somewhat  chaotic  mass  of  fact  and  fiction  has 
its  distinct  value,  and  is  worthy  of  the  research  to  which  un- 
doubtedly it  shall  be  subjected.  For  the  purpose  now  in  view,  Mr 
J.  F.  Campbell's  Popular  Tales  of  the  West  Highlands  and  his 
Leabhar  na  Feinne,  are  of  the  highest  valxie.  Mr  Campbell 
dashes  into  his  field  with  much  humour  and  keen  appreciation  of 
possibilities.  This  field,  though  hitherto  but  little  explored,  is 
merely  a  corner  of  a  large  area  from  which  much  may  yet  be 
gathered  to  elucidate  the  course  of  history  and  the  growth  of 
thought  in  its  ruder  and  therefore  more  conservative  stages. 
What  is  near  is  really  what  is  most  unreadable.  The  whole  of 
the  western  sea-board  of  this  island  is  studded  with  curious  frag- 
ments of  general  heroic,  and  special  Arthurian  and  Fingalian 
myths,  set  in  songs,  wrapped  up  in  transmitted  stories,  embedded 
in  local  traditions,  preserved  in  usages,  customs  and  rites,  and  even 
to  some  appreciable  extent,  engraved  upon  the  deepest  life  of  the 


124  TRANSACTIONS. 

people,  and  affecting  what  is  best  and  deepest  in  their  nature. 
What  the  capabilities  of  these  fragments  for  poetical  purpose--  arc 
and  yet  may  be,  is  known  to  intelligent  readers  of  English  poetry 
—  not  to  the  admirers  of  Ossian  alone.  In  days  when  Wagner, 
the  apostle  of  deep  unrest,  seeks  to  plant  our  highest  musical  art  in 
the  solemn  remoteness  of  the  mythos,  we  get  a  fresh  proof  of  how 
Spenser,  the  dullest  idealist  amongst  British  poets,  no  less  than 
Tennyson,  who  alone  invests  the  commonplaces  of  the  modern 
drawing-room  with  the  finer  chivalry  of  former  days,  and  the 
wider  philosophy  of  days  to  come,  has  drawn  much  of  his  inspir- 
ation from  the  side  of  Arthurianism,  which  appears  in  Jeoffrey  of 
Monmouth.  But  the  consideration  of  this  also  must  be  excluded. 
A  valuable  contribution  to  our  literature  is  to  be  found  in  the  con- 
nection between  these  and  the  Fablieux  and  Contes  of  the  middle 
ages.  Native  thought,  native  virtues,  no  less  than  native  stories 
seem  for  a  while  to  have  been  obscured  by  the  encroachment  of  the 
latter.  Both  in  themselve ;  and  in  their  affinity  with  others 
coloured  by  sterner  conditions,  the  series  of  myths,  which  yet  cling 
around  Cornish  institutions,  and  circle  about  the  mountains  and 
valleys  of  Wales,  are  a  subject  of  inviting  study.  Equally  so  is 
the  connection  between  these — the  outcome  of  the  Cymric  mind — 
and  the  Tales  of  the  West  Highlands,  of  which  Mr  Campbell  has 
given  us  a  good  presentation.  On  the  other  hand,  these  West 
Highland  Tales  have  a  close  affinity  with  the  -Norse  Tales  of 
Asbjorsen  and  the  Marchen  of  the  Brothers  Grimm.  After  all, 
ther,  there  is  ample  work  for  the  new  professors  in  collecting, 
classifying  and  analyzing  material,  and  ample  scope  for  deduction 
from  this  fertile  but  neglected  field. 

My  present  purpose  is  merely  to  give  one  crude  illustration  of 
what  may  be  effected  in  this  wide  sphere.  I  confine  myself  in  the 
main  to  Mr  Campbell's  delightful  volumes/  and  to  literature  equally 
conditioned,  chiefly  the  book  of  the  Dean  of  Lismore  and  the 
fragments  out  of  which  the  poems  of  Ossian  have  been  worked  up. 
The  question  of  the  authenticity  of  the  latter  need  not  be  discussed 
by  one  who  after  self-satisfying  examination  of  their  form  and 
matter  endeavours  to  draw  upon  their  contents.  Even  in  this 
restricted  area  my  aim  was  not  very  ambitious ;  only  it  was 
guided  by  the  radical  presupposition  of  law,  progress,  orderliness, 
all -reaching  and  universal.  It  was  to  read  back  through  facts,  and 
to  translate  the  great,  remote  past  into  niy  own  small  familiar 
moods.  I  aimed  at  brushing  away  materials  thrown  into  the  tales 
from  foreign  and  recent  sources,  at  sifting  the  new  from  the  old, 


THE    COSMOS    OF    THE    AXCIEXT    GAELS.  125 

at  following  material  literary  contents  through  the  shifting  variety 
of  their  forms,  and  thus,  by  getting  back  to  the  working  concep- 
tion of  the  universe  which  the  ancient  Gaels  entertained,  at  ascer- 
taining their  rudimental,  moral  and  religious  ideas,  and  at  bring- 
inar  these  within  the  modes  of  thought  peculiar  to  this  centtny. 
This  was  an  exercise  in  method,  which  is  absolutely  devoid  of  all 
dogmatism.  In  this  attempt,  I  trusted,  in  the  main,  to  a  careful 
analysis  of  the  rudimentary  thought  concealed  under  the  grotesque 
garb  in  which  the  tales  appear.  Tn  trying  to  make  a  fairly 
accurate  analysis  of  the  material  contents  of  the  heroic  and  quasi- 
heroic  Gaelic  fragments,  I  faced  a  task  of  which  the  results  would 
be  as  meagre  as  the  labour  leading  up  to  them  would  be  formidable. 
A  miscellaneous,  in  many  respects  a  nondescript  collection  of  silly, 
crude,  or  childish  stories,  of  rugged  poemlets  of  uncertain  source 
and  date,  and  of  loose  literary  debris,  worn  down  by  the  friction 
and  battered  by  the  convulsions  of  many  ages,  and  now  full  of 
anachronisms,  and  charged  with  exotic  elements,  does  not,  at  best, 
form  a  promising  subject  for  logical  treatment,  or  a  very  solid 
basis  upon  which  to  construct  a  system  of  philosophy  foreign  to 
modern  ways  of  thinking.  This  mass — loose  literary  debris  as  it 
was — comprised  all  the  material  at  command;  and  here,  for  the 
present  at  all  events,  the  basis  must  be  laid.  How  to  discover 
the  old  in  the  modern  seemed  more  hopeless  the  more  the  mass 
was  examined.  Part  of  the  difficulty  lay  in  the  habitual  mood  of 
the  worker  and  part  in  the  outstanding  pre-supposition  against  the 
character  of  the  old  Gaelic  mind  and  its  products.  Much  of  the 
real,  the  permanent  and  the  best  life  of  every  one  of  us  is  in  deep 
alliance  with  unconscious  forces;  in  the  depths  of  this  unconscious, 
which  is  a  part  of  our  mental  equipment,  lurk  also  the  worst  and 
most  insidious  forms  of  error,  prejudice,  and  class,  and  other  forms 
of  bias  ;  and  the  resulting  limitation  is  one  cause  why  we  find  it 
so  hard  to  transport  om-selves  into  the  conditions  of  other  minds 
and  of  bye  gone  days.  Fertility  or  vividness  of  imagination  can- 
not here  come  to  our  aid ;  for  the  reconstructions  of  fancy,  based 
upon  recent  experiences,  do  not  parallel  or  accord  with  the  pro- 
cesses of  external  fact. 

The  preliminary  step  is  the  recognition  of  the  difficulty,  and  of 
the  width  of  the  gulf  which  these  concrete  tales  represent.  They 
are  relics  of  a  mode  of  thought  altogether  alien  to  our  age.  It  is 
only,  however,  by  recognising  not  only  this  element,  but  also  the 
presence  of  calculable  law  in  the  formation  of  the  most  hetero- 
geneous and  random  products,  which  literature  or  tradition  has 


1 26  TRANSACTIONS. 

conserved,  that  it  is  at  all  possible  with  any  certainty  to  work 
ourselves  back  into,  or  reconstruct  the  thought  of  past  ages.  And 
the  pi-e-supposition,  not  merely  of  general  orderliness  and  law,  bat 
also  of  some  particular  form  of  development,  is  necessary  to  the  fair 
treatment  of  the  detritus  of  these  tales.  There  was  and  probably 
there  still  is,  a  wide-spread  opinion  thit  philosophy,  even  in  its 
rudimentary  form  was  a  thing  altogether  beyond  the  range  of  the 
old  West  Highland  mind  ;  which  it  was  assumed,  could  never 
invent,  or  create  terms  of  thought,  even  though,  perhaps  it  might 
read  them  fitfully  and  inaccurately.  This  was  the  special  pre- 
supposition against  the  speculative  value  of  the  tales  ;  and  in 
fairness  we  must  admit  that  the  appearance  of  the  fact  tallies  with 
the  nature  of  the  pre-supposition.  So  destitute  of  any  apparent 
plan  or  pui'pose,  of  any  bond  of  connection  Or  logical  coherence,  is 
the  miscellaneous  collection  of  Mr  Campbell,  that  on  the  first 
scrutiny  of  it,  it  affords  some  degree  of  proof  against  the  Gael, 
whom  it  represents  as  a  creature  of  fitful  impulse,  uncertain  feel- 
ing, and  turbulent  idea,  incapable  of  framing  any  orderly  system 
of  thought,  or  of  construing  any  moderately  complex  scheme.  At 
the  very  outset,  as  onward  in  his  progress,  the  question  faces  the 
critic : — Can  scientific  treatment  be  extended  to  this  mass  of 
crumbled -down  story  ?  Is  it  possible  to  reproduce  or  deduce  a 
rationally  coherent  system  out  of  this  crude  conglomerate,  on 
whose  surface  at  least  no  sign  of  system  or  progressive  orderliness 
can  be  traced  ? 

These  tales  are  doubtless  one  omnium  gatherum.  Their  nucleus 
belongs  to  the  indefinite  past,  whose  bounds  no  one  dare  mark  out; 
they  have  been  tossed  about  in  all  sorts  of  ways  and  transmitted 
through  all  kinds  of  minds ;  they  have  gathered  volumes  of 
accretions  from  all  quarters,  and  they  have  been  put  into  their 
present  form  by  various  collectors,  differing  in  capacity  and  manner 
of  expression.  With  all  their  singularity,  however,  they  are  not  an 
exception  to  the  laws  under  whose  action  rudimentary  national 
literature  grows.  In  the  rise  of  any  my.th,  the  preservation  of 
any  popular  tale,  or  the  consolidation  of  any  popular  philosophy, 
however  fragmentary  or  obscured,  there  never  has  been  any 
haphazard  or  random  growth  or  action.  The  transmutations  of 
these  tales  were  those  of  spoken,  not  of  written,  speesh.  Hence 
they  ramified  into  n?any  versions,  through  the  influence  of  locality 
and  similar  causes.  OfCathnaneun  and  Ursgeul  no,  Feannaig,  e.g., 
there  are  versions  from  various  parts  of  the  country ;  but,  in  all 
essential  elements,  these  versions  are  identical.  They  are  both 


THE    COSMOS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    GAELS.  127 

natural,  native  products  of  a  rugged  soil ;  they  draw  their  meaning 
from  early  times  ;  and  that  meaning  has  survived  through  a  long 
series  of  transformations. 

We  know  now  that  survivals  and  revivals  are  not  confined  to 
any  one  department  of  nature.  The  doctrine  extends  to  literary 
products  and  to  the  impress  of  thought.  What  is  best  endures. 
Race  itself  is  a  survival,  in  harmony  with  the  locality  in  which 
it  is  found,  and  which  conditions  it.  The  peculiar  qualities  of 
races ;  their  language,  habits  of  thought  and  action,  are  due  to  the 
peculiar  pressure  of  their  surroundings.  Latitude,  altitude,  the 
distiibution  of  land  and  sea,  currentsand  the  like,  determine  climatic 
conditions,  which  in  their  turn  determine  the  character  of  the  soil 
and  its  products.  But  these  again,  singly  or  together,  give  direc- 
tion to  the  industries,  occupations,  habitual  modes  of  thought, 
ethical  ideas  of  the  population.  Between  the  physical,  intellectual 
and  moral  energies  of  a  people  the  interaction  is  complete.  Given 
the  conditions  now,  the  law  of  change  in  the  retrogression,  and  the 
products  as  they  are,  and  we  can  form  some  approximation  to  the 
products  as  they  were  in  earlier  stages.  Certain  factors  being 
given,  the  remainder  may  be  found,  the  sequence  of  rigid  law  being 
pre-supposed.  But  the  geographical  conditions  along  the  whole 
line  of  the  historic  and  geological  past  may  be  traced,  and  is 
gradually  being  traced  ;  the  climatic  conditions,  within  certain 
broad  limits,  are  equally  traceable,  ov  indirectly  calculable ;  and 
thus  we  may  ascertain  the  social  products  and  obtain  a  key  to 
the  moral  and  intellectual  outcome  of  the  people,  and  to  their 
forms  of  religious  beliefs. 

With  the  pre-supposition  of  law,  definite  and  supreme,  in  change 
and  growth,  I  sought  for  the  key  of  what  lay  beyond  the  present 
form  of  these  crude  stories,  and  attempted  to  extract  as  much  as 
possible  of  their  meaning  from  the  loose  debris  of  the  Gaelic  tales, 
by  forming  an  analysis  of  their  contents,  by  grouping  the  legends, 
sayings  and  incidents  under  certain  heads,  by  tracing  the  central 
idea  or  burden  of  each,  back  from  their  present  form,  as  fireside 
narrative,  or  nursery  literature,  through  its  various  phases  of  story, 
legend,  myth  and  gathering  heroic  incident,  expressive  of  the 
struggle  between  races  and  their  circumstances,  to  its  remotest 
source  as  a  crude  elemental  description  of  the  powers  of  nature  as 
these  impressed  themselves  upon  the  mind,  in  opposing  and 
thwarting  the  aggressive  will  of  the  old  Scottish  Celt.  This 
attempt  as  an  exercise  in  method,  involved  more.  In  thrusting 
back  maxims  and  gnomes,  more  or  less  abstract  in  their  oresent 


128  TRANSACTIONS. 

dress,  but  in  the  main  an  extract  from  early  concrete  passed  through 
various  intermediate  stages,  I  had  also  to  consider  how  much  in 
each  story  was  gathered  into  it  from  eastern  and  especially  Scandi- 
navian influences,  how  much  Avas  inherited,  genuinely  native  of 
the  Gaelic  soil,  and  especially  how  much  was  genuine  myth,  con- 
tributed by  the  native  mind.  In  thus  following  the  stream,  back 
through  rough  channels  I  aimed  at  elucidating  the  transmission  of 
Gaelic  thought,  the  opening  up  of  the  antique  world  of  the  Celts 
through  the  application  of  principles  wider  than  their  own,  and 
the  formulating  of  the '  ultimate  notions  which  the  Gael  of  the 
Western  Isles  had  formed  regarding  his  origin,  his  nature  and 
destiny.  From  this,  or  along  with  this,  some  conception  of  the 
code  of  practical  Gaelic  ethics  might  be  formed. 

When  the  tales  are  put  through  such  a  process,  the  result  is 
slightly  disappointing.  Sift  them,  classify  them ;  trace  their 
exotic  elements  ;  remove  what  is  foreign  and  imported  ;  sti'ip  oft 
their  exci'escences;  and  the  residuum  is  somewhat  small.  At  its 
best  and  richest,  the  Gaelic  literary  heritage  is  meagre  in  quantity 
and  of  unmistakeable  quality.  The  best  rudiinental  thought  of  a 
nation  is  what  survives  longest.  The  residuum  of  these  stories 
bears  all  the  clearest  marks  of  a  high,  almost  an  indefinite 
antiquity.  For  one  thing  it  is  in  singular  contrast  with  modern 
Gaelic  poetry,  and  all  modern  Gaelic  literature,  which  is  not 
coloured  or  strengthened  by  inore  comprehensive  or  less  local 
phases  of  thinking,  is  confined  within  narrow  limits,  and 
abundantly  charged  with  the  characteristics  of  the  fleshly  or 
sensuous  school.  Partly  because  the  more  sensuous  characteristics 
are  also  the  more  ephemeral,  and  partly,  perhaps,  because  the 
actions  were  of  a  sterner  nature,  the  myths  and  tales  are  singulai  ly 
devoid  of  pruriency.  The  voluptuousness  of  the  Greek  or  of 
Eastern  mythology  does  not  appear  here  ;  and  the  questionable 
wit  and  more  questionable  double  entendre  which  bristle  in  ceitain 
sections  of  Gaelic  poetry  are  conspicuous  by  their  absence.  If 
their  range  is  not  comprehensive,  or  their  structure  brilliant,  their 
spirit  is  lofty  and  their  teaching  stern. 

In  one  notable  respect  these  Tales  from  the  West  Highlands 
differ  widely  from  the  tales  from  the  Norse  and  the  Fjeld,  and, 
what  is  more  surprising  from  the  whole  mass  of  the  Marchen  and 
Nibelungenlied  of  North  Germany.  The  plot  in  them  all  is  gener- 
ally simple  :  the  mechanism  is  pretty  much  alike,  and  resembles 
the  ordinary  machinery  of  the  popular  transmitted  tales  of  the 
rest  of  Northern  Europe.  In  tsie  West  Highland  Tales,  as  in 


THE   COSMOS    OF   THE   ANCIENT  GAELS.  129 

most  folk-lore  and  rustic  mythology,  we  find  a  strange  admixture 
of  the  supernatural  in  strange  circumstances.  Much  stress  is  laid 
upon  the  malevolence  or  occasional  beneficent  intents  of  witches 
and  the  like  ;  ghosts  condescend  to  sharp  practices  and  sly  tricks  ; 
and  wraiths  display  activity  in  human  affairs  ;  the  contest 
between  the  powers  that  are  from  beneath  and  those  that  are  from 
above  is  painted  in  hurricanes  and  thunderstorms  j  pictured  out 
tLrough  the  miraculous  intervention  of  the  lower  part  of  creation, 
or  even,  on  an  emergency,  through  the  aid  of  inanimate  matter ; 
the  persistency  of  hate,  the  force  of  love  and  the  fickleness  of  human, 
feeling  and  emotion  are  bodied  forth,  not  merely  in  alliances  and 
meetings  and  wars,  of  all  degrees  of  confusion  between  friends  and 
foes  and  middlemen,  but  also  in  clumsy  intrigues,  obscure  relations 
of  princes  and  princesses,  in  the  strong  and  steadfast  affection  of 
young  maids  and  in  the  revenges  and  petty  spites  of  abnormal 
hags.  Underneath  all  this  grotesque  commonplace,  there  runr, 
through  these  legends,  traditions  and  stories,  a  much  more  violent 
current  of  energy  and  feeling  than  what  marks  the  flow  of  the 
German  and  Norse  mythology.  The  Northern  Holda  is  a  less 
seductive  and  less  intense  power  than  Yenus  of  the  sensuous 
South  ;  and  there  is  an  element  of  austerity  and  even  asceticism  in 
the  northern  characters  for  which  we  have  no  equivalent  elsewhere. 
Odin  is  thus  a  more  outstanding  figure  than  Baal.  Whilst  how- 
ever, the  valour  of  Odinism  is  a  prominent  and  daring  sort  of 
energy,  that  of  the  typical  Gaelic  personality  is  formidable,  if  not 
always  dangerous,  through  the  resources  of  a  quicker,  more  plianl 
ingenuity.  In  the  oldest  known  Saxon  product,  Beowulf,  the  grasp 
of  a  strong  human  hand  crushes  the  supernatural  agent,  in  spite  of 
ail  its  devices ;  but  in  the  Highland  Tales,  cunning  meets  cunning, 
device  over-reaches  force,  instead  of  merely  humanly  foi-ce  breaking 
down  the  ingenuity  of  sly  device.  On  the  surface  of  the  narrative, 
the  Trolls  in  Dr  Dasent's  Tales  on  the  whole  may  seem  capable  of 
greater  fury  and  more  extravagant  effort  than  any  personage  in 
Mr  Campbell's  Tales,  although  the  extravagance  and  expansive 
action  oiMagach  Colgar  equal  those  in  The  Trolls  of  Hedah  Wood, 
and  the  Co)wn  of  the  former  has  several  qualities  that  would  do 
credit  to  the  Mephistopheles  in  Faust.  We  admit  of  course  that 
the  sternest  fragments  in  popular  mythology,  like  the  hardest 
rocks  in  the  surface  of  a  country,  survive  longest,  and  that  the 
oldest  and  most  rugged  masses  of  this  detritus  are  the  oldest  and 
most  valuable  to  the  student  of  philosophical  development.  The 
energy,  and  even  the  cunning  of  these  stories  is  intensely  Pagan ; 


130  TRANSACTION'S. 

and  a  kind  of  rude  titanic  vehemence  at  turns  centres  in  this 
Paganism,  as,  for  example,  when  the  clang  of  the  hammer  of  Fionn 
resounds  through  Scandinavia  into  Ireland,  and  in  the  pathos  that 
encircles  the  death  of  Diarinid.  Greatest  forces  are  always  beneath 
the  surface ;  marked  merely  by  surface  signs.  In  this  Gaelic 
heritage  we  find  Paganism  of  an  uncompromising  type  at  the 
surface  and  at  the  core.  Its  spirit  is  Pagan;  the  prevailing  influences 
are  Pagan.  Its  Christianity  is  as  oil  to  water ;  it  is  not  of  it. 
Christian  rites  and  symbols  are  frequently  inti-oduced  to  work  out 
the  action  of  the  stories  ;  but  they  are  often  anachronisms,  aiier- 
thought  embellishments ;  and  the  meek  and  gentler  spirit  of 
Christianity  is  altogether  awanting. 

This  is  a  fact  of  high  significance  ;  for  in  the  absence  of  the 
gospel  of  submission,  and  of  the  gentler  teaching  of  Christianity, 
consists  one  strong  proof,  perhaps  the  strongest,  of  the  great 
antiquity  of  these  Tales.  For  myself  I  was  not  prepared  for  this 
dominance  of  Paganism.  The  great  influence  of  lona,  in  an  era 
probably  anterior  to  the  time  of  St.  Columba,  and  the  extent 
and  evident  antiquity  of  the  ruins  of  Ecclesiastical  buildings  along 
the  west  coast  of  Scotland,  and  especially  in  Argyle,  and  the 
character  of  local  traditions,  had  prepared  me  to  expect  that 
Christianity  was  the  greatest  social  force,  at  all  events  along  the 
Western  sea-board.  I  did  not  believe  that  the  Culdees  were 
"  Albyn's  earliest  priests  of  God." 

But  they  were  earnest,  zealous  and  powerful ;  and  much  of 
their  missionary  zeal  must  have  been  spent  in  uprooting  the 
native  Paganism.  Either  the  existing  fragments  of  old  Gaelic 
literatui'e  and  thought,  belong  to  a  date  anterior  to  the  era  of  St. 
Columba,  or  Gaelic  moods  must  have  had  a  singular  antagonism 
to  the  gentler  and  holier  doctrines  of  the  imported  Christian 
religion.  In  any  case,  Culdee  zeal  has  not  been  more  successful 
than  other  modes  of  doctrinal  propaganda  that  go  counter  to,  or 
ignore  the  claims  of,  existing  phases  of  thought  and  feeling.  No 
one  with  moderate  insight  and  knowledge,  has  ever  denied  the 
susceptibility  of  the  Celts  to  religious  and  spiritual  impressions ; 
yet  there  is  unquestionably  a  certain  hai-dness  iu  the  result.  In 
Wales  where  the  morality  of  the  triads  afforded  a  firm  basis  for  the 
practical  ethics  of  Christianity,  Methodism  and  its  adjuncts  have 
often  gone  the  length  of  quaint  extravagance  ;  and  the  doctrine 
preached  in  the  Highland  Presbyterian  Churches  outdoes  any 
other  development  of  advanced  Calvinism  in  its  sternness  and 
emphasis  of  doom.  So  far  from  being  distasteful,  this  rigid 


THE    COSMOS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    GAELS.  131 

Calvinism  finds  an  energetic  response  in  the  bosom  of  the  Gaelic 
race.  It  lias  before  now  been  noticed  that  a  popular  clergyman 
in  the  North,  is  one  powerful  in  the  exposition  of  the  sterner 
doctrines,  in  a  general  reference.  The  ultimate  ground  of  this  is 
in  the  permanence  of  the  elements  transmitted,  both  socially  and 
mentally,  from  generation  to  generation.  There  is  deep  signifi- 
cance in  the  singular  fact.  The  sterner  phases  of  the  Christian 
doctrine  and  spirit,  have  received  a  more  hearty  reception  among 
the  Gaelic  people  than  the  side  whose  gospel  is  that  of  broad 
humanly  charity,  love,  submission  of  self-will,  to  its  universal 
repentance  through  suffering  and  the  salvation  that  comes  through 
sorrow.  Apart  from  the  transmitted  propensities  and  structure  of 
the  race,  which  have  their  meaning,  a  partial  explanation  of  this  is 
found  in  the  superstitions  which  still  influence  fireside  opinion,  and 
in  the  traditions  which  satisfy  rustic  curiosity  and  influence 
courage.  Reared  in  wild,  barbarous,  and  in  a  manner,  isolated  con- 
ditions, and  trained  to  seek  their  deeds  of  excellence  in  deeds  of 
war  and  bloodshed,  these  ancient  Gaels,  as  they  are  vaguely  outlined 
here,  never  eager  to  extend  a  friendly  welcome  to  opinions  sprang 
from  new  soils,  would  look  with  some  degree  of  coldness  and 
contempt  upon  a  new  system,  whose  advocates  sought  an  avenue 
for  it  in  the  purity  and  abnegation  of  their  own  lives  ;  which 
required  its  pi'ofessors  to  regard  men  as  brethren,  and  honour  the 
lowly  in  station  equally  with  the  mighty  in  rank ;  to  relinquish  a 
life  of  fierce  excitement  and  varied  gaiety  for  one  of  penance,  self- 
denial  and  gloom  ;  to  cast  aside  the  pleasures  and  the  glory  of  war 
in  order  to  receive  the  pleasures  and  the  joy  of  a  distant  heaven  in 
which  there  was  no  room  for  hunting  or  feats  of  strength;  and  to  take 
up  the  cross  in  the  life  that  is,  in  order  to  prepai'e  for  the  alien  one 
to  come.  If  the  popular  tales  of  a  nation,  rather  than  its  earlier 
lyrics  or  fireside  ballads,  embody  its  oldest  literature  or  its  first 
efforts  at  thinking,  and  constitute  the  most  enduring  element  in 
the  life  of  the  nation  itself,  we  have  some  illustration  of  this  in 
Highland  customs  still  extant.  In  the  extravagant  love  for 
mystery,  in  their  stubborn  belief  in  supernatural  action  and 
interference,  the  natives  of  some  of  the  more  remote  isles  and 
lonely  glens  conserve  many  Pagan  elements. 

A  careful  analysis  of  the  thought  of  the  West  Highland  Tales 
points  t)  an  antiquity  beyond  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into 
Scotland.  But  the  surprising  thing  is  that  in  their  course  down- 
wards through  many  troubled  centuries,  they  have  absorbed  so 
little  of  the  encroaching  Christian  doctrine  and  ideal,  and  have 

i  2 


132  TRANSACTIONS. 

retained  so  large  a  measure  of  the  pre-Christian  ritual  and  spirit. 
Whatever  amount  of  zeal  may  have  been  spent  by  the  followers  of 
St.  Columba,  St.  Blane  and  their  followers  the  history  of  surviving 
Gaelic  literature  and  of  local  customs  declai'e  to  have  received  but  a 
meagre  reward  in  leaving  the  race  still  Pagan  in  their  fibre — their  in- 
mostand  truest  nature.  The  natives  of  the  straths  and  conies  seem  to 
have  contented  themselves  with  employing  the  priests  to  perform  the 
rites  of  marriage  and  baptism,  to  assist  at  funerals,  and  to  adjust 
minor  squabbles,  whilst  they  seem  to  have  appropriated  such 
new  ceremonies  as  fitted  in  with  their  own  Pagan  institutions,  or 
formed  useful  adjuncts  to  them.  They  did  not  penetrate  very 
much  beneath  the  surface  of  the  Christian  ritual  and  had  not  a 
clear  consciousness  of  its  fine  underlying  ideas.  Fven  now,  in  the 
remote  parts  of  the  country,  when  tested  by  dire  emergency,  their 
religious  ideas  and  beliefs  are  found  to  contain  a  residuum  of  the 
old  Pagan  faith.  Were  Thompson's  prayer-gauge,  which  shocked 
the  correct  feeling  of  the  religious  public  some  years  ago,  tried  in 
Lewis  or  Skye,  Pagan  ceremonies  would  be  resorted  to  as  possibly 
efficacious,  after  an  appeal  to  the  Christian  Deity  had  produced  no 
manifest  result.  To  the  strength  of  the  same  inherited  elements 
is  due,  partly,  the  depths  to  which  the  shrewder  and  more  accommo- 
dating section  of  the  Christian  Church  has  rooted  its  power  amongst 
Celtic  people.  The  stern  concrete  of  an  earlier  stage  has  been 
assimilated  with  a  purer  doctrine  of  higher  aims.  The  natives  of 
the  Loanda  district  in  Western  Africa  still  employ  the  same  cure 
for  the  effects  of  the  evil  eye  that  I  have  seen  a  native  of  the  North 
of  Scotland  using  as  a  last  resource  not  many  years  ago  ;  and  the 
popular  festivals,  those  great  land-marks  of  time,  have  as  much  of 
Paganism  as  of  every  posterior  influence.  All  this  tallies  with  the 
inner  content  of  these  Tales. 

When,  therefore,  we  study  the  Celtic  races  both  in  their 
oldest  literary  heritage  and  in  their  surviving  institutions,  we  meet 
with  evidence  of  a  positive  and  negative  kind,  that  the  powerful 
impulses  of  Paganism,  always  persistent  elements  when  hereditary 
in  the  national  fibre,  were  not,  and  could  not  be,  counteracted  or 
removed  by  any  alien  or  outwatd  force  which  was  not  complemen- 
tary or  which  did  not  absorb  them.  For  that  reason  alone,  even 
were  there  no  other,  I  think  Dr  M'Lauchlan  has  given  too  great 
prominence  to  the  regenerating  influence  of  lona  on  contemporary 
thought  around  it.  In  his  own  Book  of  the  Dean  of  Lismore — not 
to  go  further — we  find  the  keen  antagonism  of  the  old  faith  to  the 
new,  along  with  rather  supercilious  treatment  of  the  ritual  and 


THE    COSMOS   OF   THE    ANCIENT   GAELS.  133 

machinery  of  the  latter.  Alike  in  Gaelic  and  Norse  Tales  and  in 
the  JVibelungerdied,  one  follows  the  self  assertion  of  the  stern  old 
Pagan  spirit,  but  in  different  degrees,  against  the  calmer  attitude 
and  holier  lessons  of  Christian  thought ;  but  the  West  Highland 
Tales,  without  the  unity  of  emotion  and  feeling  so  conspicuous  in 
the  myths  of  the  A'  ibelungenlied,  have  also  no  equivalent  of  the  hea- 
then hero  Zigurd,  who  is  converted  to  the  new  faith  and  devoutly 
conforms  to  the  rites  of  the  Southern  Church.  In  their  treatment 
of  the  new  faith  the  Tales  are  sometimes  grotesquely  irreverent ;  in 
this  respect  they  are  in  contrast  to  the  North  German  ones. 
Sermons  are  preached  and  doctrines  expounded ;  but  not  un- 
frequently  the  audience  is  bent  upon  secular  thoughts,  and  the 
occasion  is  made  into  an  opportunity  for  courtship  and  flirtation. 
Although  the  priest  is  often  found  gracing  the  marriage  feast  with 
his  presence,  he  is  not  represented  as  a  check  upon  the  boundless 
excess,  which  marked  out  these  events.  Baptism  was  practised  by 
the  agents  of  the  Church  ;  but  it  had  no  deeper  spiritual  meaning 
than  the  christening  of  a  ship  or  the  naming  of  a  street.  The 
clergy  take  their  share  in  secular  struggles ;  but  they  are  often 
overpowered  in  hand  to  hand  conflict  with  the  more  insignificant 
agents  of  the  myth.  Apart  from  this  levity  of  treatment,  and 
the  occasional  conquest  of  the  priestly  power  by  evil  agencies, 
we  find  a  tolerably  well  marked  line  drawn  throughout  the  whole 
extent  of  Fingalianism,  between  Christian  truth  and  earlier  creeds. 
I  quote  from,  the  book  of  the  Dean  of  Lismore  by  way  of 
specimen  : — 

"  Were  the  sons  of  black  Garry  alive, 
Neither  the  sound  of  bells  nor  priests. 
Would  now  be  heard  in  Rath-Cruachan." 

The  same  attitude  is.  indicated  in  the  following  violent  threat : — • 

"  Were  the  blue  eyed  hero  alive, 
Bold  Conan,  the  son  of  Fion, 
Cleric,  though  thy  office  be  sacred, 
With  his  fist  he  would  strike  thee  down." 

When  Patrick  gives  religious  advise  to  Ossian,  and  tries  to  turn 
his  attention  to  higher  topics  than  the  deeds  of  his  forefathers, 
thus, 

"Ossian,  prince's  son,  'twill  be  thy  soul's  great  loss, 
That  thou  now  thinkest  of  the  battles  of  the  Fuine,  * 


134:  TRANSACTIONS. 

The  bard  rejects  this  suasion  through  this  savage  rejoinder — 

"  Didst  thou  hear  the  hounds  and  the  sound  of  the  hunt, 
Thou  wouldst  rather  be  there  than  in  the  holy  city." 

Here  is  a  declaration  of  Ossian  that  casts  a  not  unpleasant  light 
upon  the  current  ideas  of  mortality : — 

"  I  cared  little  for  any  blessedness  above, 

Unless  shared  with  Caoilt  and  Oscar  and  my  father." 

In  the  distinct,  uncompromising  recognition  of  this  antagonism  we 
have  a  key  to  a  part  of  the  practical  ethics  of  the  Gaelic  people.  Our 
modern  ethics  have  gathered  both  compass  and  strength  from  the 
influx  of  Christian  doctrine.  To  the  shallow  compromises  of  our 
traditional  school  of  moral  philosophy  we  owe  a  mass  of  confusion 
on  the  growth  of  moral  ideas,  which  are  rational  products,  though 
complex  and  spiritual  beyond  other  rational  products.  As  human 
experience,  the  result  of  human  will  in  perpetual  antagonism  to  its 
surroundings,  has  widened  and  deepened,  and  as  intellect  has 
developed  itself,  ethical  ideas  have  been  purified  and  enlarged,  law 
has  acquired  authority,  and  spread  its  influence,  and  conscience, 
individual  and  general,  has  become  a  keener,  clearer  and  more 
sensitive  index  of  what  is  right  and  wrong.  There  is  no  greater 
stability  in  morals  than  in  truth,  and  no  reason  why  the  moral 
sense  in  the  individual  should  not  be  as  capriciously  capable  of 
culture  as  the  perception  for  beauty  or  harmony.  Gaelic  ethical 
ideas,  judged  from  the  detritus,  had  not  yet  been  purified  by  the 
influx  of  wider  unselfishness  and  humanitarianism  ;  and  hence,  did 
not  embrace  many  ethical  doctrines  familiar  to  us  now,  such  as 
the  extent  and  significance  of  Free  Will,  the  relation  of  human 
personality  to  the  Divine  Will,  the  subjective  sanction  of  duty,  and 
the  basis  of  moral  laws. 

Pagan  at  its  core,  as  we  have  it  here,  Gaelic  thought  is 
intensely  concrete.  It  does  not  even  rise  to  the  level  at  which  the 
troubled  concrete  of  present  experience  meets  the  facts  of  actual 
history — a  point  far  below  that  at  which  abstract  thought  begins. 
Progress  is  from  the  known  to  the  unknown,  from  the  narrow,  crass 
concrete  of  fact,  to  the  wider  truths  of  abstraction,  and  consists  in 
dropping  the  weight  of  the  concrete  out  of  thought,  or  in  trans- 
lating its  imagery  and  sensuous  symbols  into  propositions  of  wider 
generality.  In  the  process  of  advance  the  faculty  to  grasp  truth 


THE    COSMOS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    GAELS.  135 

apart  from  its  individual  image  or  symbol,  which  alone  is  accessible 
to  the  popular  mind,  is  created  or  enlarged.  Thus  it  is  that  a 
common  English  clod-hopper,  or  an  Aberdeenshire  hind  goes 
through  the  dull  expanse  of  life  without  concern  or  relation  to 
anything  that  does  not  lie  within  the  sweep  of  his  animal  wants,  the 
coarse  routine  of  his  work,  and  the  intellectual  circle  of  his  favourite 
alehouse,  His  mind  is  intensely,  even  narrowly  concrete.  But  far 
different  from  this  local,  material  concrete  was  that  of  the  ancient 
Gael,  which  consisted  rather  in  the  excess  of  the  imagery  of  sensi- 
tive fancy,  and  in  the  more  fleeting  symbols  of  memory. 

There  is  one  other  respect  in  which  this  kaleidscopic  concrete 
differs  from  other  literary  products ;  but  it  is  not  easy  to  describe 
the  difference.  We  may  call  it  an  excess  of  sensitiveness,  a 
peculiar  delicacy  of  nerve-action,  a  rush  of  troubled  feelings,  or  a 
keen  consciousness  of  sorrow.  Or,  looking  at  the  concrete  from 
without  we  are  amazed  at  the  rapidity  of  its  change  of  colour, 
rather  than  at  the  general  character  of  the  colouring  itself.  There 
is  in  all  Fingalian  literature,  and  characteristic  of  it,  a  peculiarity 
somewhat  difficult  to  be  defined,  in  virtue  of  which  two  such  dis- 
tinct minds  as  that  of  Goethe  and  that  of  Napoleon,  were  drawn 
to  Ossian's  poems.  Goethe  eminently  appreciative  of  energy,  beauty 
and  all  that  art  cc/uld  accomplish  or  embrace,  could  not  hive  been 
attracted  by  anything  in  the  mere  matter  of  the  poems  ;  and 
Napoleon,  whose  own  life  was  a  turbulent  epic  in  strong  shades, 
found  nothing  in  the  plan  or  substantive  contents  of  M'Pherson's 
ill-jointed  fragments,  to  create  an  attachment  for  the  Fingalian 
poet,  as  great  as  that  of  Alexander  for  his  Homer.  The  magnet  in 
both  cases  was  in  the  form  and  colouring  •  in  the  wild  and  pic- 
turesque imagery ;  in  the  rapid  whirling  rush  of  all  man- 
ner of  shades  across  the  gloomy  surface ;  and  in  the  fierce 
struggle  which  it  all  means.  Nor  is  this  form  and  colouring  a 
reproduction,  or  a  modern  semblance  of  antiquity  ;  it  is  not  t1  e 
design  of  a  creative  modern  artist ;  it  is  not  the  work  of  r.ny 
Chatterton  Whatever  general  theory  of  the  rise  or  growth, of 
literature  we  adopt,  or  whatever  be  our  conception  of  poetry,  we 
tacitly  admit  that  the  phases  of  the  one  and  the  imagery  of  the 
other,  are  alike  the  reflex  of  the  moods  and  circumstances  of  the 
artist  or  writer.  In  the  same  way  as  the  epithets,  illustrations 
and  imagery  of  Homer  transport  one  into  the  picturesque  mag- 
nificence of  early  Greece,  and  as  Spenser,  the  least  realistic  of 
English  poets,  even  in  his  most  phantastic  creative  moods,  con- 
structs his  fairy-land  out  of  English  dells,  groves,  hedges  and 


136  TRANSACTIONS. 

flowers,  and  drapes  his  characters  with  delicately  defined  hues  ot 
Elizabethan-age  conditions,  so  there  is  in  Fingaliau   literature  a 
remarkable   back  ground  of  form  and  colouring  which  reflects  the 
storms  of  the  West  Highland  valleys,  and  the  struggling  fury  of  the 
Atlantic  and  all  that  these  embrace.     And  not  only  is  this  colour- 
ing not  modern,  but  modern  art  could  not  produce  it.        What  one 
gees  in  looking  at  the  kaleidoscopic  concrete  of  Fingalian  literature, 
is  an  unique  combination  of  sea,  land  and  mist ;  a  long  indefinite 
series  of  frowning  mountains  lashed  by  waves  whose  foam  at  times 
whitens  the   dark  cliffs  up  to  their  very  summits;  dark,  precipitous 
glens,   often  crowded   with  troubled   wreaths  of  mist,  and  awful 
from,  their  dark  store  of  mystery,  stretching  from  the  ocean  inwards, 
irregularly   into   gloomier   space ;  a  tearful  sky  weeping  for  the 
dead   which  it  encloses ;  tumultuous  clouds  rushing  across    and 
dragging  darkened   shadows    in   their   train ;    the  force  of  winds 
struggling  with  the  cliffs  and  vanishing  with  many  sighs ;  and  in 
the  midst  of  all  this  and  such  as  this,  human  beings,  resolute  and 
brave,    opposing   a  cruel    destiny    with  the  cool  consciousness  of 
approaching    defeat,    but   meanwhile    holding    bravely    on.     The 
supernaturalisru   of  the    Tales   has    been   degraded    through   the 
attrition  of  the  common-place  through  which  it  has  passed  ;  but  if 
we   extract  it,  we  have  a  residuum  of  but  little  interest :  and 
Ossianic  literature  would  be  poor  indeed  without  its  grand  imper- 
sonations of  mist  and  mystery.      The  scenery  is  that  of  a  great 
struggle,   which  has   had  110  historian,  beyond  retrospective  induc- 
tion,   to  hand  it  down ;  we  gaze  at  it  the  more  wraptly  because 
it  is  so  indefinite  and  in  such  violence  of  change.     Through  its 
imagery   of  deepening   shadows,    of  rushing  winds,   and  infinite 
struggles  of  clouds,  of  mists  ever  changing  in  their  hue,  we  get  a 
melancholy  glimpse   of  a   world  which  was  great  at  least  in  its 
sorrows. 

Meteors  dashing  across  the  sky,  bolts  of  lightning  cleaving  the 
rocks,  and  peals  of  thunder  rending  the  air  form,  a  fitting  back- 
ground, along  with  those  for  the  action  of  supernatural  beings — 
spirits  seen  in  the  lightning  flash,  ghosts  leaping  from  cairn  to 
cairn,  or  shrieking  in  the  wind,  mysterious  sighs,  moans  and 
sounds  of  sorrow.  Beneath  all  the  supernaturalism  or  behind  it, 
there  is  the  human  element  in  a  race  with  a  will  to  do  and  to  dare, 
baffling  or  being  baffled,  in  perpetual  antagonism  to  the  world 
around,  and  bent  on  beating  nature  back  within  narrower  limits. 
The  colouring  after  all  is  a  mass  of  symbolism ;  and,  if  we  only 
could  read  it  aright,  we  should  add  another  page  to  the  great 


THE    COSMOS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    GAELS.  137 

drama  in  which  each  of  us  is  an  actor,  but  whose  end  no  one  sees 
or  wisely  predicts. 

What,  then,  was  the  image  of  the  great  material  encroaching 
world,  which  the  ancient  Gael  construed  to  himself  ?  He  was  far 
above  the  state  of  the  savage,  who  divides  the  non-ego  into  what 
he  eats  and  what  eats  him.  But  did  he  look  upon  the  outer 
world  as  finite  or  infinite,  upon  the  earth  as  a  plain  or  a  disc  1 

His  language  throws  some  light  on  this  special  point.  It  is 
most  copious  in  terms  of  abuse  and  depreciation,  whereas  savage 
languages  generally  are  rather  deficient  in  expressions  for  malevo- 
lence, fierce  antipathy,  and  violent  feeling.  His  expressive  and 
copious  command  of  abusive  epithets  cannot  be  explained 
altogether  upon  the  theory  that  he  was  rude  and  untutored.  It 
opens  up  the  way  to  a  period  of  long  and  bitter  negation,  in  which 
the  Gaelic  mind,  struggling  to  free  itself,  passed  through  experience 
of  keen  sorrow  and  pain,  and  framed  a  vocabulary  expressive  of 
that  experience. 

The  same  conclusion  is  strongly  borne  out  by  the  Gaelic  canons 
of  truth  and  modes  of  reasoning,  into  the  logic  of  which  I  do  not 
now  propose  to  enter.  That  is  reserved  for  a  later  stage. 

Nearly  all  the  tales  are  tinged  with  anthropomorphistic 
doctrines.  The  plot  usually  is  not  intricate  ;  the  characters  are 
rather  few,  and  with  little  difficulty  can  be  grouped  into  two 
classes.  The  qualities  that  cluster  around  a  good-humoured 
easy-natured  man  of  the  world  are  nearly  altogether  awanting. 
They  contain  several  types  of  Mephistophiles,  but  more  of  Puck 
or  Arjel ;  and  probably  this  defect  has  some  radical  connection 
with  the  singularly  severe  character  of  Highland  wit,  and  the 
practical  way  in  which  Highland  humour  shows  itself.  In  banter 
and  rough  humour  a  London  cabman  is  more  than  a  match  for  a 
whole  clan  of  Gaels,  each  of  whom  is  infinitely  his  superior  in 
general  faculty  and  resource. 

The  actors  are  few  and  sombre ;  the  back-ground  is  generally 
desolate  and  wild.  The  range  of  motive,  plan  and  execution  is  not 
wide.  The  Gael  opposed  to  nature,  is  keenly  conscious  that  he 
has  not  conquered  her  forces,  but  he  is  not  conscious  of  their 
extent.  In  reading  these  Gaelic  Tales  I  was  struck  with  the 
part  which  the  melancholy  hoodie  plays  in  the  plot.  Wherever 
this  creature  is,  sorrow  is  not  far  off.  It  sits,  like  the  inau- 
spicious crow,  a  bird  of  ill-omen,  heralding  evil,  and  on  the  side  of 
the  great  world  against  the  human  race  in  their  efforts  to  subdue 
it.  The  hoodie  has  many  of  the  resources  of  a  human  being  in  its 


1 38  TRANSACTIONS. 

dark  bosom.  Anthropomorphism  goes  lower  than  even  the  hoodie, 
down  tln-ougli  objects  that  perform  many  marvellous  deeds.  Needles 
stitch  without  the  guidance  of  the  human  hand  ;  hatchets  cut  down 
forests  without  the  aid  of  man  ;  eggs  dance  frantically  around  ; 
and  these,  moved  by  their  own  voluntary  impulse,  have  the  cause 
of  action  immanent  in  themselves.  Human  qualities  are  trans- 
ferred to  reptiles,  birds  and  inanimate  objects ;  man  peopled  his 
universe  out  of  his  own  imagination  by  multiplying  analogues  of 
himself.  By  this  process  of  transference  the  Gael  got  his  idea  of 
cause  and  effect,  and  obtained  a  chain  of  casuality,  often  composed 
of  a  long  series  of  concrete  links.  But,  in  every  case,  the  chain 
leads  back  to  mind,  or  some  analogue  of  it.  This  running  up  of 
effects  to  mind,  by  these  primitive  people,  who  consciously  had  no 
mastered  scheme  of  philosophy,  throws  a  strong  flash  of  light  on 
the  rise  of  cosmology  as  a  theory. 

Contemplating  the  past  from  the  narrow  stand-point  of  the 
present,  we  are  apt  to  overlook  the  significance  of  this  attribution 
of  personal  qualities  to  non-personal  objects.  At  a  time  when 
causality  was  not  understood  as  we  now  understand  it,  when 
experience  was  too  thin  and  weak  to  lay  open  the  sweep  of  natural 
laws,  and  when  the  deposit  of  moral  sentiment,  which  has  since 
assumed  the  plastic  form  of  objective  conscience,  was  not  yet  con- 
solidated, man,  as  in  the  Highlands,  face  to  face  with  opposing 
powers,  naturally  hit  upon  iheir  shortest  explanation  in  the 
violence  and  virulence  of  beings  like  himself.  Much  of  the  grand 
personifications  of  Fingalian  literature  may  be  traced  to  the  strong 
tendency  of  the  Gaelic  mind  towards  anthropomorphism.  On  the 
intellectual  side  of  their  philosophy,  they  were  at  the  opposite 
pole  to  that  of  a  modern  cultured  apostle  of  Celtic  genius,  and  to 
an  important  school  of  modern  thought,  markedly  German,  which 
explains  all  by  reference  to  an  impersonality — an  "  Eternal  not 
ourselves  that  maketh  for  righteousness."  Yet,  in  spite  of  this 
intellectual  divergence,  both  have  much  in  common  as  regards  their 
utilitarian  ethics  ;  and  whilst  the  impersonal  deity  of  the  brilliant 
critic  is  really  an  extract  from  a  very  limited  range  of  experience, 
a  residuum  of  moral  sentiment  outside  of  us,  and  making  his 
power  "  felt  by  many  a  sharp  lesson,"  the  God  of  the  Gael  was 
also  outside  of  him,  and  draped  awfully  by  his  imagination. 

Those  old  Gaels  had  not  a  very  clear  notion  of  personality. 
Like  Thales  and  the  Ionics  they  regarded  the  soul  as  a  material  or 
physical  substance,  having  in  itself  life  and  a  kind  of  organisation  ; 
highlv  attenuated  in  its  c  om position ;  performing  its  function  in 


THE    COSMOS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    GAKLS.  139 

various  ways  ;  and  existing  for  a  season  in  union  with  its  crass 
cell,  the  body,  but  also  capable  of  separate  or  independent  exis 
tence. 

The  Kosmos  of  the  Gaels  was  indefinite  in  extent,  fluctuating, 
luxuriant,  kaleidoscopic.  Warlike  from  choice  and  necessity,  noma- 
dic in  character,  restless,  therefore,  and  quick  by  habit,  and  with- 
out any  centre  of  permanent  industry,  they  led  a  life  of  extreme 
uncertainty  and  were  familiar  with  ideas  of  decay  and  evanescence. 
They  could  not  escape  the  manifold  influences  ot  storm  and  flood, 
rushing  torrent  and  foaming  inlet,  precipitous  ro\ks  and  sombre 
valleys.  From  this  and  from  their  familiarity  with  ebb  and  flow  in 
all  around,  arose  their  keen  and  highly  susceptible  organisation, 
the  lively  luxuriance  of  their  inner  sense,  their  passionate  phan- 
tasy and  their  extremely  fertile  faculty,  projecting  itself  fitfully 
and  with  a  sort  of  melancholy  power  and  emphasis  into  all  around. 
Above  all,  their  sense  of  life  was  passionately  keen,  and  their 
range  of  emotion  fluctuating  and  profound  ;  hence,  partly,  the 
undue  projection  of  troubled  ideality  into  their  efforts  at  thinking. 
Thus,  not  given  to  introspection  and  incapable  of  making  a  subtle 
analysis  of  feeling,  they  translated  mental  acts  into  objective 
facts  and  laws.  Hence  their  image  of  the  objective  material  world 
— of  tne  totality  of  things — was  altogether  different  from 
any  modern  philosophical  conception  of  it.  For  one  thing,  it  was 
larger  in  its  compass,  studded  all  over  with  a  boundless  series  of 
particulai-s  dissipated  by  modern  analysis,  more  sensuous  on  its 
surface,  and  from  end  to  end  in  closer  sympathy  and  communion 
with  the  personal  self  than  the  non-ego  which  surrounds  our 
conscious  life. 

Critical  and  keen,  we  separate  what  is  real  in  fact  from  what 
is  merely  ideal.  Whilst  the  ideal  concrete  of  the  modern  poet  is 
consciously  bodied  forth,  that  of  the  ancient  Gael  was  the  residuum 
of  unconscious  effort ;  in  the  mythologic  stage,  physical  and  hyper- 
physical  agencies  were  blended  into  one,  and  looked  upon  as  phases 
of  personal  ones.  Thus  it  arose,  that  supernatural  interference  in 
ordinary  affairs  was  a  central  doctrine  in  the  gathering  faith,  and 
that  all  nature  from  the  ripple  of  the  smallest  wave,  or  the  pebble 
upon  the  sea  shore,  up  to  the  most  awful  of  demons,  or  the  most 
terrible  of  spirits,  was  regarded  as  an  analogue  or  reflex  of  personal, 
self-externalizing  energy.  The  sphere  of  actual  sensation  was  not 
marked  off  from  the  province  of  its  possibilities  ;  fancy  ran  itself 
into  fact;  and  the  universe,  with  all  its  material  garniture,  was  based 
upon  the  analogy  of  the  will.  Hence,  also  arose  the  inordinately 


140  TRANSACTIONS. 

prolific  sense — consciousness  of  t^e  Gaelic  people  ;  their  sensible 
world  peopled  by  a  multitudinous  assemblage  of  spirits  of  protean 
form,  and  of  all  dfgi'ees  of  cunning,  shrewdness,  dexterity  and 
strength ;  and  their  cosmology  so  markedly  anthropomorphic  as 
well  as  so  large  and  intricate. 

A  philosopher,  in  great  repute  amongst  those  of  his  cotmtry- 
men  wno  are  content  with  the  common  place  compromises  of  the 
shallow  age  of  unreason,  found  guarantee  for  the  existence  of  an 
external  world  antipodal  to  mind  in  the  infallible  dictum  ot  the 
common  sense  of  mankind.  But  the  Gaelic  race  possessed  common 
sense,  as  defined  by  this  sagacious  thinker ;  it  was  the  uncritical 
sense  of  the  crowd ;  it  bore  testimony  to  the  existence  of  an  outer 
world  in  many  essential  res,oects  different  from  that  of  our  day. 
Indeed  what  was  fact  and  sense  then  would  be  fiction  and  nonsense 
now.  Around  the  tops  of  the  Highland  mountains,  in  wreaths  of 
mist,  or  in  the  drifting  snows  of  winter,  spirits,  melancholy  and 
feeble,  or  violent  and  relentless,  struggled  together  when  not 
engaged  in  preparing  terror,  or  other  evil  tor  men  ;  spectres  hovered 
gloomily  over  the  reedy  marsh  or  the  moor,  or  arrayed  themselves 
on  the  blasts  of  the  wind ;  and  pale  ghosts,  messengers  of  the 
unseen  world,  brought  back  the  secrets  of  the  grave,  and  proclaimed 
the  lessons  of  nether  experience — upneaving  glens  as  they  ap- 
peared, and  shattering  mountains  through  their  departure.  Deep 
beneath  the  sward  of  any  circular  green  knoll,  in  mysterious 
caverns  of  intricate  access,  a  vast  and  indefinite  population  of 
Frir  Sheiyh  had  their  abode.  And  as  every  knoll  covered  its 
population,  on  mischievous  tricks  intent,  so  every  loch  concealed 
its  monsters ;  Proteus-like  creatures,  deceitful  and  dangerous  ; 
every  stream  and  shore  had  its  mermaid,  capable  of  transforming 
itself  into  the  most  beautiful  of  women  and  then  of  vanishing  into 
vapoury  air.  The  outer  world  swarmed  with  other  creatures  far 
too  marvellous  for  our  modern  faculty — witches  of  every  degree  of 
rascality,  cyclops  of  forbidding  look,  giants  of  monstrous  size,  but 
of  fierce,  relentless  moods  and  combative  tendencies  ;  boars,  eagles, 
and  hoodies  that  often  excelled  mankind  in  wisdom  and  in  cunning 
as  well  as  in  fleetness  and  strength ;  apples  that  prattled  about 
the  weather  and  discussed  local  questions ;  pebbles  that  of  their 
own  accord  could  leave  the  beach  and  outspeed  the  bwiftsst  charger 
in  the  chase,  and  scores  of  other  objects  equally  marvellous,  if  not 
equally  grotesque  to  our  sense  ot  propriety,  were  all  realities  in  the 
troubled  kosmos  of  the  Gaelic  people.  To  the  existence  of  these 
and  such  as  these  the  practical  common  sense  of  this  age  does  not 


THE  COSMOS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    GAELS.  141 

testify.  On  the  contrary,  it  relegates  them  all  to  the  sphere  of 
unweeded  or  savage  imagination,  forgetting  that  the  facts  of  one 
age  degenerate  into  the  crumbled  down  fiction  of  another. 

We  are  in  this  age  so  practical  in  our  methods,  so  common- 
place in  our  Saxon  modes  of  thought,  and  so  intolerant  of  what 
now  does  not  square  with  the  little  world  of  our  own  ways,  that 
few  of  us  can  enter  with  any  appreciation  into  the  fabric  of  the 
old  Gaelic  world.  With  genuine  Philistinic  faculty,  we  find  it 
easier  to  call  it  all  a  worthless  man  of  superstition  than  to  under- 
stand it — forgetting  that  we,  too,  and  all  that  belong  to  us,  shall 
in  our  turn  form  sport  for  even  more  genuine  Philistines  than  our- 
selves. If  we  could  only  turn  from  the  mere  look  of  the  world  of 
which  we  form  a  part,  and  ask  ourselves  the  question — What  does 
it  mean  ?  we  would  be  in  a  better  position  to  induce  broadly  and 
dispassionately.  The  question  is  an  intensely  interesting  one,  but 
cannot  here  be  discussed  with  fair  fulness.  Consciousness  being 
judge,  the  kosmos  is  a  varying,  perhaps  a  diminishing,  faetor. 
The  common  sense  of  the  old  Gaels  and  that  of  the  age  of 
Dr  Reid  could  not  agree  regarding  its  content  or  extent, 
its  permanence  or  reality.  Whatever  assurance  consciousness 
gave  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  years  ago  regarding  that 
part  of  the  outer  world  which  Dr  Reid  admits,  it  gave  also 
in  support  of  that  position  which  he  does  not  admit  to 
exist  as  an  external  reality.  The  Gael  could  not  possibly  separate 
objective  reality  from  subjective  concrete — in  truth,  be  beieved  in 
the  reality  of  both  with  equal  and  unquestioning  firmness.  We 
do  not  and  cannot;  but  are  we  wiser  for  all  that  ? 

It  has  been  seen  how  spirit  and  the  general  garniture  of  spirit- 
land  predominated  in  the  Gaelic  image  of  the  world,  arrd  how  to 
the  mind  of  the  Gael  spirit  or  a  spiritual  entity,  was  simply  a 
material  substance — a  body  of  somewhat  finer  organisation  than 
the  one  of  flesh  and  blood.  And  this  conception  of  spirit  regulated 
the  prevailing  idea  of  immortality,  and  therefore  practical  morality, 
to  some  extent.  The  bridge  between  the  life  that  now  is  and  that 
which  is  to  come  was  a  short  one ;  for  to  their  far-reaching  imagi- 
nation the  latter  was  merely  a  reflex  of  the  present  scene,  and 
immortality  was  but  the  present  state  of  existence,  stripped  of 
some  of  its  coarser  conditions.  Both  spheres,  here  and  hereafter, 
were  represented  in  the  main  as  under  the  same  restrictions,  mag- 
nified or  depressed,  governed  by  the  same  standard  of  happiness 
and  worth,  and,  consequently,  sharing  in  the  same  pleasure  and 
pursuits.  It  is  not  easy  to  reconstruct  their  heaven  and  their 
hell. 


142  TRANSACTIONS. 

They  held  a  mollified  form  of  Pythagorean  metempsychosis  : 
for  the  soul  is  represented  as  migrating  into  the  lower  animals,  and 
even  into  trees,  stones,  and  other  inanimate  objects. 

Great  value  was  attached  to  the  kind  of  subjective  immortality 
which  fame  conserved  in  the  songs  of  the  local  bards,  who  were 
honoured,  as  their  logical  descendants,  the  clergy,  still  are,  amongst 
other  reasons,  on  account  of  their  supposed  influence  with  the 
authorities  of  spirit-land,  and  whose  verdict,  therefore,  carried  with 
it  much  of  the  consecrated  power  of  prophecy.  Such  spiritual 
insight  as  the  race  could  claim  rested  with  these  bards,  who  were 
philosophers  as  well  as  poets,  prophets  as  well  as  literary  authori- 
ties, and  who  did  much  more  than  merely  cheer  the  idle  and 
amuse  the  vain,  as  we  now  suppose.  Keener  analysists  than  their 
neighbours,  they  were  more  reliable  guides  in  forecasting  the 
future,  and  sinoe  they  could  interpret  a  small  fraction  of  the  signs 
of  their  time,  they  were  credited  with  the  power  of  penetrating 
through  the  mystery  of  the  remainder,  and  of  controlling  what 
they  could  forecast.  To  secure  a  place  in  undying  song  was  thus 
the  highest  ambition  of  the  warrior — hence,  deeds  of  noble  daring 
and  striking  cruelty.  This  gathering  up  of  fame  was  a  kind  of 
immortality  verging,  in  some  respects,  on  that  demanded  by  some 
apostles  of  Comtism. 

"  Time  downwards  will  bear  our  praise, 
The  strength  of  song  will  cloudless  rise." 

But  they  went  beyond  this  abstract  species  of  subjective  immor 

tality — 

"  It  will  not  profit  us  to  live  in  song, 

When  we  are  weak  and  pale  beneath  the  ground." 

They  looked,  but  not  with  the  authority  of  strong  hope,  for  an 
immortality,  more  substantial  than  the  rewards  of  fame,  in  a  heroic 
state  in  the  far  off  spirit-land,  to  which  the  bards,  it  would  appear, 
issued  the  passport.  Somewhere  in  the  indefinite  bosom  of  the 
western  sea  the  souls  of  heroes  dwelt  in  fellowship.  There,  in  the 
homes  of  the  winds,  in  the  hall  of  clouds,  lay  the  realms  of  mystery, 
beyond  "  the  roofless  house  of  lasting  doom,"  and  thither,  after 
some  experience,  after  hovering  in  agonising  gloom  over  the  chill 
vapour  of  the  marsh,  illustrious  spirits  passed.  According  to  a 
Skye  tale,  there  was  a  happier  region  beyond  this,  but  from,  which 
there  was  no  return. 

In  this  exaggerated  mixture  of  Druidic  doctrine   and    pure 


THE    COSMOS    OF    THE   AXCJEXT   GAELS.  143 

Fingalianism  there  is  one  outstanding  image.  The  sun  is  always 
central,  and  light  is  life.  In  the  distant  isles  of  the  west  heroes 
lived  happily,  if  their  happiness  was  possible,  in  the  light  of  the 
sun,  which  was  superior  to  death.  The  noblest  strains  in  all 
Gaelic  literature  are  in  praise  of  the  sun, 

"  Which  alone  does  triumph  evermore 
In  joyousness  of  light  its  own  ;" 

and  which  is  also  represented  as  the  ultimately  inexplicable  factor 
in  the  universe.  That  fire-worship  was  practised  there  can  be  no 
rationally-grounded  doubt.  In  the  sun  the  Gaels  found  the  two 
highest  attributes  of  divinity — power  and  pui'ity.  If  they  had  not 
consciously  grasped  what  we  call  monism,  they  certainly  came 
within  sight  of  it,  and  the  ultimate  inexplicable  principle  which 
stood  before  them  was  light,  or  the  "  Sun  of  purest  face."  In  the 
face  of  the  strong  personifying  faculty  of  the  Celtic  people,  we 
conclude  at  once  that  personal  agency  was  ascribed  to  this  prin- 
ciple. How  the  spirit- world  was  related  to  this  source  of  power 
and  pui'ity  need  not  be  discussed  here,  though  it  is  a  question  of 
great  interest. 

Notwithstanding  their  ideas  of  continuity,  it  is  noteworthy 
that  the  journey  to  the  land  of  spirits  is  sometimes  pictured  out  as 
dreary  and  perilous — over  rocks,  precipices,  ravines,  and  dark 
gulfs,  guarded  by  monsters  as  fierce  as  Cerberus,  whilst  at  other 
times  they  are  ferried  across  by  professional  rowers.  But,  in 
either  case,  however,  the  spirits  came  within  sight  of  it. 
For  my  present  purpose  it  matters  not  whether  the  Celts 
regarded  the  spirits  of  the  departed  as  subject  to  the  rarer 
contingencies  of  the  present  life,  or  whether  they  had  consci- 
ously grasped  the  idea  of  infinite  extension  or  duration,  if  it  can 
be  shown  that  for  all  phases  of  being  they  had  nearly  found  one 
ultimate  principle  of  explanation. 

But,  whatever  was  the  nature  of  this  ultimate  working  con- 
ception, an  analysis  of  these  tales  pi-oves  that  they  had  got  some 
dim  notion  of  the  difference  between  being  to  us  and  being  in  itself. 
This  question  is  started,  but  it  is  not  solved.  That  the  present 
totality  of  things  is  but  the  shadow  of  some  deeper  reality,  be- 
yond the  compass  of  sense  or  the  power  of  thought ;  that  the 
universe,  with  its  material  garniture,  is  in  change,  and  must  pass 
away  as  a  dream  ;  and  that  time  itself  must  perish,  are  doctrines 
frequently  roughly  enunciated  in  Firigalian  poetry.  Time  and 


144:  TRANSACTIONS. 

-what  is  inscribed  on  it  are  the  objects  that  endure,  the  only  ones  ; 
yet  these  endure  only  whilst  light  continues  to  be  shed  on  them. 
They  exist  only  in  the  light :  and  the  light  shall  fade.  Time  is 
always  described  as  a  finite,  limited  concrete  roll.  But  we  know 
not  its  beginning  ;  we  cannot  encompass  its  reality ;  our  faculties, 
at  their  utmost  tension,  can  grasp  no  more  than  the  narrow  image 
of  reality.  What  is  more  significant,  time  itself  wouM  be  imper- 
ceptible and  beyond  oxir  ken  had  it  not  been  inscribed  with  the 
records  of  heroic  actions,  which  give  character  to  its  roll.  Men 
are  seen  passing  as  shadows  on  the  surface  of  time,  or  are  com- 
pared to  streams  that  flow  downwards  into  the  indefinite  mist. 
But  few,  indeed,  are  they  who  succeed  in  impressing  their  deeds 
on  the  "  far  off  side  of  time,"  or  in  marking  the  mountain  with 
their  valour  as  they  pass  across  the  field  of  view.  Thus  the  uni- 
verse is  pictured  forth  as  a  shadow  of  perhaps  a  deeper  shade. 
Yet,  amongst  all  the  flux  and  unreality,  there  was  one  element  of 
some  degree  of  permanence, valorous  action  stamping  itself  on  time; 
the  tissue  of  time  combining  with  the  outgoing  effort  of  man,  and 
forming,  at  the  best,  only  something  like  the  phenomenal  world  of 
Emmanuel  Kant.  Valour,  strength,  courage,  resolute  will — this, 
on  the  human  side,  is  the  ultimate.  To  the  Gaels,  this,  no  less 
than  the  Cosmic  ultimate,  was  infinite  ;  and  yet  advanced  thinking 
in  the  nineteenth  century  expresses  it  far  otherwise. 

Now,  as  pure  doctrine,  the  moral  philosophy  of  the  Gaelic 
people  is  of  no  high  value  in  itself.  It  is  singularly  meagre  and 
rudimentary.  As  illustrating  a  definite  class  of  ethical  ideas,  it  is 
of  some  importance  to  the  student  of  historical  philosophy.  My 
conception  of  what  it  resolved  itself  into  can  best  be  expressed  by 
the  phrase,  ethics  of  ingenuity,  or  ethics  of  cunning.  A  modern 
philosopher  has  said  thai;  a  state  of  nature  was  a  state  of  perpetual 
warfare,  and  has  founded  a  popular  system  of  morals  upon  this 
sentence.  However  that  may  be,  the  age  pourtrayed  in  these 
Tales  was  one  of  war,  and  contest  with  nature.  Man  was  in  a 
state  of  chronic  strife  with  nature,  wnich  he  feared  and  suspected, 
and  which  he  tried  to  check  and  baffle.  In  their  semi-conscious 
state,  with  subjective  phantasy  blending  itself  with  objective  fact, 
and  in  consequence  central  to  a  life  of  infinite  fulness  and  profound 
mystery,  our  ancestoi  s,  according  to  Mr  Campbell's  Tales,  were  in  that 
stage,  in  which  self  or  the  energy  of  tne  individual,  is  pre-eminently 
assertive  and  negative — partly  freeing  itself  from  nature,  with- 
drawing into  its  own  resources,  and  partly  combating  external 
forces.  In  his  gloomiest  hour  the  Gael  could  not  separate  the 


THE   COSMOS    OF   THE    ANCIENT   GAELS.  145 

creation  of  his  own  melancholy  faculty  from  inroads  from  without; 
to  him  the  bracken  bush  in  the  pale  light  of  the  moon  seemed  an 
emissary  from  the  nether-world ;  the  creeping  mist  on  the  moor 
transformed  itself  into  a  subtle  spectre.  Death  was  before  him 
and  around  ;  and  he  brooded  over  the  melancholy  prospect.  He 
saw  strange  sights,  heard  strange  sounds,  and  had  forebodings 
almost  perpetually.  The  Western  Celts  had  not  learned  the  Ba- 
conian lesson  of  mastering  nature  by  submitting  to  her  laws,  for  in. 
fact  they  knew  little  of  those  laws  ;  and  their  antagonism 
to  the  outer  world  was  not  much  keener  than  their  warfare  with 
their  own  imagination,  which  filled  the  gulf  between  self  and  not- 
self  with  a  teeming  population  of  uncertain  mood.  Thoroughly 
eudaimonistic,  as  they  were  by  ihe  force  of  necessity,  they  aimed 
at  self-preservation,  which  is  a  lower  phase  of  individual  happiness. 
Whatever  could  secure  happiness  was  right  and  proper.  To  baffle 
nature  in  its  physical  forces,  to  break  down  the  intermediate  con- 
crete, secured  this.  Hence  general  intellectual  resource,  insight 
into  relations,  adroitness,  quickness  and  cunning  are  highly  prized. 
Virtue  centres  in  these.  Success  is  prized  almost  universally. 
The  radical  part  of  the  practical  morals  of  the  Gaelic  race  is  based 
upon  the  relation  of  the  individual  to  his  circumstances ;  the 
ethics  propounded  in  their  gnomes,  proverbs  and  popular  maxims 
are  all  backed  up  by  prudential  considerations.  Much,  indeed,  of 
their  old  fragmentary  literature  is  taken  up  with  this  contest 
between  human  skill,  on  the  one  hand,  and  physical  and  hyper-' 
physical  forces  on  the  other.  In  this  perpetual  contest,  whatever 
resource  the  former  can  devise  is  regarded  as  proper,  virtuous  and 
right.  Every  tale  differs  from  all  others  in  respect  of  incident, 
machinery  and  colouring ;  but  the  moral  is  almost  always  the 
same : — Overcome  yoar  foes  ;  giants,  monsters  and  supernatural 
powers  and  all  opposing  forces,  by  physical  energy,  if  possible;  but, 
if  not  possible,  then  try  intellectual  skill ;  over-reach  them  some- 
how ;  if  other  weapons  fail,  fall  back  upon  their  own  fraud,  de- 
ception, treacheiy,  or  any  conceivable  method ;  study  them ; 
discover  their  weakness  ;  the  greatest  power  amongst  them  all  has 
a  vulnerable  spot.  Search  for  that ;  baffle  your  foes  ;  subdue  them ; 
in  this  way  alone  you  secure  not  only  happiness  but  even  life 
itself;  it  is  a  struggle  for  dear  life,  which  it  is  your  duty,  your 
interest,  your  happiness  to  preserve.  Something  like  this  is  the 
moral  of  the  Tales  in  which  the  struggle,  under  various  disguise?, 
between  man  and  nature  is  described.  No  wonder  that  practic;  1 
wisdom,  shrewdness  and  dexterity,  rather  than  the  gentler  force  s 


146  TRANSACTIONS. 

of  love  and  the  milder  gospel  of  submission  and  self-abnegation, 
underlie  the  ethics  and  the  moral  actions  of  the  Celtic  race,  whose 
code,  moreover,  could  not  embrace  many  of  the  more  important 
modern  rules,  amongst  other  reasons,  since  the  rights  and  duties 
attached  to  property  were  not  developed  amongst  them.  And  it 
is  easy  to  see  how  upon  this  radical  basis  the  popular  virtues  of 
bravery,  hospitality  and  generosity  were  reared. 

There  is  some  propriety,  then,  in  the  phrase  which  I  have  em- 
ployed, to  express  the  central  part  of  Gaelic  morals.  Giants  and 
other  monsters,  according  to  the  legends  and  stories  of  the  collec- 
tion, opposed  themselves  to  human  interests  and  were  often  over- 
come ^>y  the  clever  ingenuity  of  man,  when  we  would  naturally 
expect  that  superior  strength  alone  coirld  overpower  them.  The 
ethical  end  to  which  this  pointed  was  subjective,  individual  hap- 
piness ;  but  the  undue  prominence  of  this  narrow  element  in  the 
end  is  one  proof  that  an  enlarged  conception  of  moral  doctrines  was 
impossible  in  the  circumstances  of  the  race ;  and  hence  the  circle 
really  on  the  side  of  the  individual  was  small,  the  multitude  of  his 
antagonists  was  always  large,  and  hostility  to  all  foes,  human, 
natural,  and  supernatural,  was  regarded  as  highly  meritorious. 
Here,  too,  we  have  an  explanation  of  the  singular  development  of 
the  Gaelic  conscience,  which  is  an  eminently  correct  moral  guide 
within  its  own  narrow  field,  but  which  takes  no  cognisance  of  wide 
relations.  Honesty,  for  example,  was  a  virtue  among  the  ancient, 
as  it  is  among  the  modern,  British  Celts.  Yet  we  find  theft,  when 
not  followed  by  detection,  to  have  been  rather  a  reputable  act.  It 
is  not  correct  to  say  that,  even  in  their  most  barbarous  days,  when 
their  reputation  abroad  was  not  high  for  honesty,  the  Highland 
people  disregarded  the  moral  differences  between  meum  and  tuum, 
or  that  the  plundering  propensities  of  the  clans  were  due  to  any 
blunders  of  moral  feeling  in  their  guides  or  chiefs.  It  is  quite 
true  that  the  inhabitants  of '  whole  glens  lived  for  years  upon 
the  proceeds  of  their  plundering  expeditions  into  fertile  spots  be- 
yond, and  that  they  were  at  any  time  ready  to  steal  whatever 
wealth  Lowland  weakness  would  allow,  without  experiencing  a 
single  twinge  of  conscience  or  pang  of  remorse.  I  have  known  a 
man  of  otherwise  correct  morals,  a  pious  smuggler,  reverently  in- 
voke the  Divine  blessing  on  his  cup  of  whisky  just  taken  from  his 
illicit  still.  And  this  man  was  moral  and  possessed  a  conscience 
thoroughly  keen  and  purified  by  high  influences.  "What  Highland 
morality  gained  in  intensity,  it  lost  in  compass.  The  clan  that 
passed  beyond  the  Trossachs,  and  plundered  the  valley  of  the 


THE    CC3MOS    OF    THE   ANCIENT    GAELS.  147 

Forth,  was  scrupulously  honest  within  its  own  border  ;  treachery, 
which  was  a  heinous  offence  when  practised  against  a  Gaelic  friend 
was  a  cardinal  virtue  when  brought  to  bear  on  the  ruin  of  a  Low- 
land foe.  The  Hrcle  of  the  individual,  or  the  family,  or  latterly 
of  the  clan,  was  the  limit  of  truth  ;  falsehood  had  lost  its  character 
beyond  that  line.  To  defraud  the  British  revenue  was,  if  not 
exactly  meritorious,  at  least  a  colourless  action,  quite  compatible 
with  the  general  goodness  of  Providence.  The  attitude  of  the  old 
British  Celt  towards  nature  and  the  moral  code  which  it  created 
had  their  appropriate  effect  in  influencing  the  national  character- 
istics of  his  successor;  his  moral  standpoint  was  narrow;  his 
conscience  was  loc<d ;  his  ethics  a  secretion  of  only  one  stage  of 
time.  His  virtues  wove  not  eternal.  He  opposed  strength  to 
strength,  and  when  strength  failed,  artifice  to  force;  and  if  he  suc- 
ceeded he  congratulated  himself  in  being  a  moral  being.  He  was 
not  in  any  sense  a  Yahoo,  even  although  the  practical  moral  code 
of  this  century  endorses  a  central  doctrine  on  his  shifting  one. 

The  ethical  standard  which  runs  through  these  tales  of  the 
West  Highlands  is,  for  the  most  part,  grossly  sensuous  and 
epicurean.  Singularly  enough  pruriency,  which  disfigures  the 
Gaelic  poetry  of  the  eighteenth  century,  is  at  its  minimum  in  the 
Fingalian  Ballads,  and  women  are  almost  always  referred  to  in 
respectful  and  chivalrous  terms.  The  finest  and  purest  imagery  is 
that  which  surrounds  the  form,  and  virtues  of  woman.  A  happy 
marriage  is  generally  the  reward  of  valour  and  virr.ue  after  hard- 
ships and  trials ;  and  special  value  is  attached  to  a  sumptuous  and 
protracted  marriage  feast,  which,  in  ordinary  cases,  extended  over 
a  period  of  seven,  nine,  or  twenty  days.  In  extraordinary  cases 
the  wedding  festivities  were  prolonged  during  seven  years.  This 
is  sufficiently  gross ;  but  in  otber  respects,  happiness  is  sensuous, 
sensual,  or  associated  with  gross  means,  such  as  excessive  eating 
and  drinking.  The  Aristotelian  maxim  of  moderation  is  nowhere 
here;  not  in  a  medium,  but  in  excess;  not  in  the  centre,  but  at 
the  limits,  the  Gael  sought  for  his  Sttmum  bonum  as  a  rule.  We 
must  not,  however,  infer  that  unrestrained  licence  is  commended. 
On  the  contrary,  those  stories  show  that  the  notion  of  retribution 
had  been  mastered,  and  that  it  was  known  that  there  was  an  inex- 
orable sequence  in  the  course  of  human  action,  that  in  the  sphere 
of  his  destiny  a  man  would  reap  what  he  had  sown,  that  pain, 
wretchedness  and  privation  were  the  fruit  of  imprudence  and 
excess,  and  that  good  cannot  be  the  moral  antecedent  to  evil.  In 
this  the  ethical  end  is  the  same  narrow  and  selfish  element;  present 

J2 


148  TRANSACTIONS. 

restraint  is  inculcated,  not  from  high  ideas  of  duty,  but  simply  that 
the  distant  pleasure  may  be  all  the  keener  when  it  is  attained. 
In  one  of  the  most  truthful  of  Mr  Campbell's  Tales,  the  Rider  of 
Grianig,  this  is  the  moral,  as  in  others ;  but  it  is  noteworthy  that 
in  this  Tale,  the  lesson  to  postpone  present  blandishment  to 
futm-e  joy  is  not  an  induction  from  experience,  but  the  revelation 
of  a  higher  and  wiser  power. 

The  ethical  standard  of  the  Celts,  then  was  selfish  and  utili- 
tarian, subjective  and  'particular.  They  possessed  a  practical 
moral  faculty  in  the  shape  of  conscience  ;  but  its  range  was  narrow 
and  its  authority  beyond  that  range  feeble.  Correct  within  its  own 
•domain,  it  sanctioned  what  a  modern  conscience,  tolerably  well 
educated  in  general  rn3ral  principles,  would  as  certainly  condemn. 
From  this  and  such  as  this,  I  think  the  conclusion  is  inevitable 
that  individual  conscience,  as  an  ethical  function,  is  a  development 
and  a  growth  from  rudimentary  conditions,  just  as  morality  itself 
is  a  growth. 

Out  of  this  primitive  stock  of  ethical  ideas  the  more' generous 
virtues  of  the  Celtic  people  sprung.  Valour,  fidelity,  friendship, 
hospitality  and  the  like  are  all  utilitarian,  not  Kantian  virtues. 
Fidelity,  intense  within  its  limits  and  to  that  extent  reliable  in  its 
character,  was  confined  to  a  narrow  class  of  relations.  Hospitality 
"was  common,  but  it  is  sanctioned  by  utilitarian  considerations. 
"Valour  was  higher  than  these ;  and,  if  associated  with  modesty, 
it  is  almost  a  sublime  virtue  ;  but  it  is  nobly  rewarded  and  its 
•glory  reflects  upon  itself.  Friendship  among  friends  was  a  sacred 
duty  ;  but  this  duty  was  not  fixed  upon  moral  principles  common 
to  all  mankind.  The  Gaelic  proverb,  C/ta  do  threig  Fionn  riabh 
caraid  a  lamh  dheis,  expresses  the  extent  to  which  Gaelic  friend- 
ship could  be  relied  on. 

It  is  no  part  of  my  present  task  to  follow  out  the  ramifications 
of  Celtic  virtues.  My  aim  was  simply  to  give  a  rough  sketch  of 
the  rise  and  nature  of  the  radical  ideas  of  Gaelic  morals.  On  some 
other  occasion  I  may  return  to  the  subject  and  show  how  : — 

"  Fion  was 
Generous,  just. 

A  righteous  judge 

To  woman  mild, 

Three  hundred  battles  he  bravely  fought, 

Anything  false 

Hia  lips  ne'er  spoke." 


149 

GAELIC    COMPETITION. 

The  annual  Gaelic  competition  in  connection  with  the  Society 
took  place  within  the  School-house  at  Drumnadrochit  on  Saturday 
3d  March  1877.  The  competition  was  open  to  all  schools  in  the 
united  parishes  of  Urquhart  and  Glenmoriston,  and  the  parish  of 
Kiltarlity.  No  competitor  from  the  latter  parish  appeared,  and 
with  the  exception  of  Drumnadrochit,  it  did  not  appear  as  if  great 
interest  was  taken  in  the  matter  in  the  schools  in  Glen-Urquhart. 
Four  schools  were  represented — Drumnadrochit,  Blairbeg,  Balnain, 
and  Invermoriston.  Mr  Grant,  Drumnadrochit,  presented  eight 
pupils,  and  the  other  teachers  one  each.  The  number  presented 
was  thus  only  eleven.  For  the  smallness  of  the  number  there 
were  several  reasons.  One  of  these  was  that  Gaelic  instruction 
had  to  be  given  after  the  work  prescribed  in  the  time-table  was 
finished,  and  the  energy  and  will  of  the  pupils  exhausted.  Though 
the  Society  will  no  doubt  feel  disappointed  at  the  want  of  interest, 
as  manifested  by  the  numbers  presented,  the  proficiency  of  those 
brought  forward  exceeded  the  most  sanguine  expectations.  The 
subjects  announced  for  competition  were — (1)  An  essay,  in  Gaelic, 
written  in  presence  of  the  examiners  on  any  of  the  following  subjects 
which  they  might  choose,  viz.: — "  Oidhche  Challuinn  a's  la  na 
Bliadhn'  uire,"  "  Oidhche  Sharnhna,' '  "  La  buain  na  moine,"  or,  a 
"Descriptive  account  of  the  parish";(2)Readingandspellingin  Gaelic 
fromany  ot  the  four  Gospels;  (3)  Translating  any  portion  of  the  four 
Gospels  to  English  and  English  to  Gaelic ;  (4)  Dictation,  the  pas- 
sage to  be  chosen  from  any  source ;  (5)  an  essay,  in  Gaelic,  written 
at  home,  on  "  La  paidheadh  a'  mhail";  (6)  an  essay,  also  to  be 
written  at  home,  and  in  Gaelic,  on  "  Togail  nan  creach"  ;  (7) 
singing — a  prize  to  the  boy  who  would  sing  the  song  by  the  Glen- 
rnoriston  Bard, 

"  Mo  bheannachd  do  gach  sean  a's  og, 

Tha'n  Coire-Mhonaidh  thainh." 

And  to  the  girl  who  would  sing  best  the  Strathglass  Jacobite  song 
— "  Mo  run  geal  og."  To  encourage  competition  a  prize  was 
offered  to  the  competitor  who  would  come  the  longest  distance. 

Besides  these  prizes,  Mr  Burgess,  factor,  Glenmoriston,  offered, 
on  the  day  of  Examination,  a  first  prize  to  the  competitor  who 
would  sing  best  any  Gaelic  song  whatever,  and  at  the  same  time 
Major  Grant  offered  a  second  and  third  prize  in  the  same  com- 
petition. The  examiners  appointed  by  the  Society  were  the  Rev. 


150  TRANSACTIONS, 

Mr  Macrae,  Glen-TTrquliart ;  Major  Grant,  do.  ;  Mr  Hugh  Rose, 
Inverness  ;  Mr  William  Mackenzie,  Secretary  to  the  Society  ;  and 
Mr  John  Whyte,  The  HighUunder  Office.  Major  Grant  and 
Messrs  Mackenzie  and  Whyte  were  present,  and  conducted  the 
examination.  The  other  gentlemen  representing  the  Society  were 
Mr  Burgess,  factor,  Glenmoriston  ;  Mr  William  Mackay,  solicitor; 
Mr  Charles  Mackay,  builder  ;  and  Mr  James  Fraser,  C.E.  Rev. 
Mr  Cameron,  the  Manse,  Glen-Urquhavfc,  presided  and  there  was  a 
large  number  of  the  people  of  the  district  present. 

The  examination  began  about  eleven,  and  was  not  finished  till 
about  four  o'clock.     For  the  reading  and  spelling  all  the  pupils 
competed,   and  the  excellence   of  the  work  was  such  that  the  ex- 
aminers  had  the  utmost  difficulty  in  making  their  awards.        The 
reading  was  exceedingly  good,  and  the  spelling  far  beyond  the 
expectation  of  any.       The  passage  for  dictation  was  chosen  from 
Mackenzie's  History  of  Scotland  (Gaelic),  and  though  the  children 
had  not  seen  the  passage  before  they  were  marvellously  correct 
The  first  boy  had  only  three  errors  in  hal  f-an-hour's  writing,  whilst 
the  succeeding  three   had   only  five  each.        To  decide  the  tie  be- 
tween the  2d,  3d,   and  4fch,  another  trial  had  to  be  given  to  those 
three,  the  passage  being  chosen  fi-om  the  current  number  of  the 
Gaid/ieal.     When  the  writing  was  examined  it  was  found  that  one 
of  the  boys  had  committed  one  error,  whilst   the  other  two  were 
correct.     The  first  and  fourth  prizes  were  now  decided,  and  another 
trial  had  to   be  given  to  settle  the  second  and  third.        The  ti-ans- 
laiions  were  very  well  done.        Of  the  four  Essay  subjects  named 
by  the  Society,  the  examiners  chose  ^Oidhche  Shamhna."     Seven 
pupils  competed  and  the  work  was  highly  creditable  to  them  all. 
Considering  that  the  children  were  not  trained  to  sing  Gaelic  songs, 
their  rendering  of  several  Highland  melodies  was  remarkably  good. 
The  Society  offered  upwards  of  £6  in  money  prizes  ;  Mr  Noble, 
bookseller,    gave   three    copies    of  the    Rev.    Angus    Mackenzie's 
"History  of  Scotland;"  Mr  Colin  Chisholm,  Namur  Lodge,  Inver- 
ness,  gave  three  Gaelic    Testaments  ;  Mr  Wm.  Mackay  gave  two 
copies  of    Mackenzie's   "  Beauties    of  Gaelic  Poetry ;"  Mr   Alex, 
Mackenzie,    Hamilton  Place,   Inverness,  gave  the  Celtic  Magazine 
fora,  year;  Mr  Charles  Mackay  gave  20s;  Mr  Burgess,  10s;  Mr 
James  Fraser,   C.E.,    10s   6d ;  and  Major  Grant,  7s  6d.       These 
prizes  were  awarded  as  follows : — 

Essay  on  "Oidhche  Shamhna." — 1,  John  Macdonald,  Drum- 
nadrochit  School,  20s  ;  2,  Alex.  Macdonald,  Invermoriston  School, 


GAELIC   COMPETITION.  151 

15s;  3,  George  Anderson,  Lakefield  School,  7s  6d;  4,  Evan 
Campbell,  Drnmaadrochit  School,  Rev.  Angus  Mackenzie's  His- 
tory of  Scotland  in  Gaelic,  the  gift  of  Mr  Noble,  bookseller. 

Reading  and  Spelling. — 1,  Mary  Campbell,  Drumnadrochit 
School,  15s ;  2,  George  Anderson,  Lakefield  School,  10s  ;  3,  John 
Macdougall,  BJairbeg  School,  Celtic  Magazine  for  one  year, 
presented  by  the  publisher ;  4,  John  Macdonald,  Drumnadrochit 
School,  Gaelic  New  Testament,  presented  by  Mr  Colin  Chisholm, 
Namur  Cottage ;  special  prize,  presented  by  Mr  Whyte,  Evan 
Fraser,  Drumnadrochit  School. 

Translation.  —  1,  Mary  Campbell,  Drumnadrochit  School,  15s; 
2,  Evan  Campbell,  10s ;  3,  John  Macdonald,  Gaelic  History  of 
Scotland  ;  4,  John  Macdougall,  Gaelic  New  Testament,  presented 
by  Mr  Chisholm. 

Dictation. — 1,  John  Macdonald,  20s ;  2,  John  Macdougall, 
12s  6d  ;  3,  Alex.  Macdonald,  Invermoriston  School,  Gaelic  His- 
tory of  Scotland,  presented  by  Mr  Noble  ;  4,  Alex.  Fraser,  Drum- 
nadrochit School,  Gaelic  New  Testament,  presented  by  Mr 
Chisholm. 

Special  Prizes. — By  Mr  Wm.  Mackay,  solicitor,  Inverness  : — 
Best  Essay  on  "La  paidheadh  a'  mhail" — John  Macdonald,  Drum- 
nadrochit School,  Mackenzie's  "  Beauties  of  Gaelic  Poetry."  Best 
Essay  on  "  Togail  nan  creach" — Mary  Campbell,  Drumnadrochit 
School,  Mackenzie's  "Beauties  of  Gaelic  Poetry."  By  Mr  Mackay, 
builder,  Inverness  : — 1,  Girl  who  will  sing  best  "  Mo  run  geal  og" 
— Mary  Campbell,  10s  ;  2,  Boy  who  will  sing  best  "  Mo  bhean- 
nachd  do  gach  sean  a's  og,"  &c. — John  Macdouald,  10s.  For  best 
rendering  of  any  Gaelic  Song — 1,  Alex.  Macdonald,  10s,  by  Mr 
Burgess;  2,  Evan  Campbell,  5s,  by  Major  Grant;  3,  Donald 
Fraser,  Drumiiadrochit  School,  2s  6d,  by  Major  Grant.  For  Com- 
petitor who  comes  the  Longest  Distance — 10s  6d,  by  Mr  Fraser, 
C.E.,  Inverness — Alex.  Macdonald,  Invermoriston. 

The  songs  sung  in  the  last  competition  in  singing  were  "  A 
Song  to  Victoria,"  by  the  Glenmoriston  Bard  ;  "  Mairi  Laghach," 
and  "  Fear  a'  Bhata." 

The  prizes  having  been  distributed,  the  Chairman  spoke  highly 
of  the  efforts  of  the  Gaelic  Society  to  promote  the  literary  interests 
of  the  Highlands,  and  before  sitting  down  called  for  three  cheers 
for  the  Society  and  the  Secretary,  which  were  cordially  awarded. 
Mr  Mackenzie,  the  Secretary,  in  replying,  regretted  that  a  larger 
number  of  pupils  had  not  come  forward,  but  complimented  the 


152  TRANSACTIONS. 

competitors  on  the  general  excellence  of  their  work.  He  conveyed 
the  thanks  of  the  Society  to  the  teachers  who  prepared  pupils  for 
the  competition,  and  especially  to  Mr  Grant,  Drumnadrochit,  who 
presented  eight.  Major  Grant,  Mr  Wm.  Mackay,  and  Mr  Clia'-les 
Mackay,  made  some  remarks  expressive  of  the  pleasure  they  had 
in  being  present  at  such  a  successful  competition.  A  call  was 
then  made  for  a  Gaelic  song,  when  the  Messrs  Mackay  gave  "  An 
Ribhinn,  eibhinn,  aluinn  og,"  in  true  Highland  style.  A  vote  of 
thanks  having  been  awarded  to  the  Chairman,  the  proceedings, 
which  throughout  were  highly  successful,  were  brought  to  a  close. 

22D  MARCH,  1877. 

At  this  meeting  a  paper  (in  Gaelic  and  English),  by  Mr 
Farquharson,  Tiree,  on  a  variety  of  subjects  relating  to  the  High- 
lands, but  particularly  Highland  education,  was  read. 

29ra  MARCH,  1877. 

At  this  meeting  it  was  resolved  that  the  next  Gaelic  Competi- 
tion in  connection  with  the  Society  would  be  open  to  the  parishes 
of  Inverness  and  Bona,  Kirkhill,  Petty,  Daviot,  and  Dunlichity, 
and  the  old  parish  of  Boleskine.  Some  routine  business  was  tran- 
sacted, and  thereafter  Mr  William  Mackay,  Solicitor,  Inverness, 
read  the  following  paper  on 

THE  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  GLEN  AND  ROYAL 
CASTLE  OF  URQUHART. 

Tha  mo  shealladh  air  linnte  a'  dh'  aom, 
Cha'n  fhaicear  ach  caol  na  bh'  aim  ; 
Mar  dhearrsa  na  gealaich  tha  faoin 
Air  lirme  tha  claon  'sa'  ghlearm. 

In  the  beautiful  lines  which  I  have  quoted  Ossian  poetically 
deplores  his  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  times  t^at  were.  "I  bend 
mine  eye,"  sings  he,  "  upon  the  ages  fled  :  seen  but  in  slender 
gleams  is  all  that  was — like  to  the  glimmer  of  a  sickly  moon  on 
"water  winding  through  the  glen."  The  difficulties  which  the 
minstrel-historian  of  the  Fingalians  experienced  still  beset  him. 
who  would  look  into  the  past  of  our  country  ;  and  in  my  humble 
endeavours  to  weave  a  somewhat  consecutive  narrative  of  the 
history  of  my  native  Glen,  and  its  hoary  Castle,  I  need  not  say 


HISTORY   OF    GLEN   AND    CASTLE   OF    URQUHART.  153 

that  I  have  found  no  exception  to  the  rule.  Our  romantic  vale  is 
rich  in  legendary  lore  ;*  but  slender,  indeed,  and  few,  are  the 
gleams  which  as  yet  have  met  mine  eye,  of  what  kmay  be  truly 
looked  upon  as  undoubted  history.  Not  unfrequently,  however, 
do  tradition  and  authentic  record  agree  in  a  striking  manner,  and 
if  one  had  the  time  and  ability  judiciously  to  blend  these  together, 
the  story  thus  told  would  be  a  sufficiently  interesting  and  stirring 
tale  of  the  olden  time.  In  writing  this  paper,  at  the  request  oi 
the  Society,  necessity  for  brevity  precluded  my  introducing  much 
of  the  legendary  element ;  and  I  may  thus  safely  promise  that  this 
night,  to  quote  the  opening  lines  of  an  ancient  ballad, 

I  shall  you  telle  as  trewe  a  tale 

As  ever  was  herde  by  nyghte  or  daye. 

Peering  into  the  distant  past,  as  far  as  our  limited  vision  will 
carry  us,  the  first  slender  gleams  of  light  bearing  upon  the  history 
of  the  North  come  from  the  pages  of  the  Latin  writers  who  cele- 
brated the  deeds  of  the  Roman  armies  in  Britain.  From  Lucan 
and  other  writers  of  the  first  century  we  learn  that  in  their  time 
our  part  of  the  island  was  inhabited  by  the  Caledonian  Britons 
(Caledonii  Britanni),  the  same  who  so  valiantly  withstood  the 
Roman  legions  at  the  battle  of  Mons  Grampius,  and  to  whose 
valour  we  Highlanders  owe  the  proud  boast  that  our  ancestors 
successfully  stemmed  the  advance  of  the  conquerors  of  the  world. 
From  the  geographer  Ptolemy,  who  wrote  about  the  year  120,  we 
gather  that  in  his  day  the  district  "extending  from  Loch  Long 
(Lemannonius  Sinus)  to  the  Beauly  Firth  (  Varar  jEsttiarium),  and 
embracing  Glen-Urquhart  and  the  surrounding  districts,  was 
peopled  by  the  Caledonii,  one  of  fourteen  independent  tribes  into 
which  the  Caledonian  Britons  were  then  divided.  In  the  time 
of  Severus  (A.D.  208)  those  tribes  were  combined  into  two  nations, 
the  Caledonii  and  Maeatse,  which,  a  century  later,  appear  undei 
the  general  name  of  Picti — a  name  well  known  and  much  dreaded 
during  the  remaining  years  of  the  Roman  occupation.  To  the 
south  of  the  Grampians  were  the  Southern  Picts ;  the  north, 
corresponding  pretty  nearly  with  what  is  now  called  the  High- 
lands, was  occupied  by  the  Northern  Picts,  or  Cruithne  Tuath, 
whose  king  had  his  seat  at  Bona,  at  the  east  end  of  Loch  Ness. 
Still  later,  we  find  the  consolidated  Kingdom  of  Alban  divided 

*  I  have  already  given  some  of  the  Legends  of  Glen-Urqahart.  Se« 
Transactions  of  the  Gaelic  Society,  Vol.  I.,  page  43;  and  Vol.  II.,  pa$:e  74 


154  TRANSACTIONS. 

into  seven  large  provinces,  and  the  name  Moray  applied  to  that 
which  extended  on  the  one  hand  from  the  Spey  to  the  Forne 
(Beauly),  and  on  the  other  from  the  Moray  Firth  to  Lochaber  and 
the  western  sea.  Hence,  in  our  early  records  and  historians,  our 
glen  is  distinguished  as  "  Urcliard  in  Moravia,"  or  "  Urquhart  in 
Murrayland,"  and  henco,  too,  the  mistake  into  which  modern 
writers  have  sometimes  fallen  of  confounding  it  with  the  parish  of 
Urquharb  in  the  present  shire  of  Moray. 

At  what  period  the  rude  fort  was  first  raised  upon  the  Rock 
of  Strone,  which  is  now  crowned  by  the  noble  ruins  of  the  Royal 
Castle,  it  is  impossible  to  determine ;  certain  it  is  that  at  the  veiy 
dawn  of  our  Scottish  history  the  fortress  was  one  of  no  mean 
strength.  Leslie,  Bishop  of  Ross,  who  wrote  a  history  of  Scotland, 
published  at  Rome  in  1578,  describes  it  as  the  most  ancient  castle 
belonging  to  the  king  (antiquissimum  regis  castettum),  and  the 
old  cavalier,  Sir  Thomas  Urquhart  of  Oromarty,  states  in  his  "  True 
Pedigree,"  written  in  1652,  that  it  was  erected  by  his  ancestor, 
Conachar,  in  the  sixth  century  before  Christ.  Of  this  Conachar, 
who  actually  lived  in  the  twelfth  century  after  Christ,  I  shall 
presently  speak  ;  but  although  he  may  have  added  to  the  castle,  I 
am  not  inclined  to  think  that  he  was  its  founder. 

In  ancient  Irish  manuscripts  and  in  the  oral  traditions  of 
Ireland  and  the  Highlands,  no  warriors  are  more  frequently 
or  more  favourably  mentioned  than  Naois,  Aillean,  and 
Ardan,  the  sons  of  IJisneach,  and  cousins  of  Conachar  Macnessa, 
King  of  Ulster,  in  the  first  century.  Naois,  we  are  told,  falling 
in  love  with  the  beautiful  Dearduil  (pronounced  Jai'dil),  whom 
King  Conachar  himself  intended  to  marry,  fled  with  her  and  his 
brothers  to  Scotland,  where  they  built  a  castle  on  the  shore  of 
Uisge  Naois  (Loch  Ness),  from  the  window  of  which  they  could 
slay  the  salmon  and  from  the  door  the  bounding  stag.  The 
retreat  of  the  lovers  became  known  to  Conachar,  and  he  sent 
Fear-char  MacRo  to  them  with  an  apparently  friendly  invitation  to 
be  present  at  a  great  feast  which  he  intended  to  give.  Naois  and 
his  companions  assented,  but  not  without  evil  forebodings,  and 
Dearduil  sang  a  touching  farewell  to  Scotland  and  her  beloved 
Glen-Urquhart,  in  Gaelic  words  which  are  still  preserved  in  a 
manuscript,  dated  1208. 

"  Beloved  land,  that  eastern  land, 
Alba,  with  its  lakes  ; 
Oh,  that  I  might  not  depart  from  it, 
Bat  I  go  with  Naois. 


HISTORY   OF    GLEN   AND   CASTLE   OF    URQUHART.  155 

Glen  Urchain,  0,  Glen  Urchain, 
It  was  the  straight  glen  of  smooth  ridges  ; 
Not  more  joytul  was  a  man  of  his  age 
Than  Naois  in  Glen  Urcham." 

The  king's  promises  were  fair  bat  his  heart  was  false ;  and 
Naois  and  his  brothers  were  treacherously  slain.  But  Naois  and 
Dearduil  were  lovely  and  pleasant  in  their  lives  and  in  their 
death  they  were  not  divided,  for  she,  casting  herself  into  his  grave, 
expired.  The  king  caused  her  to  be  buried  on  the  opposite  bank 
of  a  neighbouring  stream ;  and  a  tender  pine  sprang  out  of  the 
grave  of  Naois  and  another  out  of  the  grave  of  Dearduil  and  the 
pines  grew  and  joined  above  the  stream.* 

As  Naois  is  believed  to  have  given  his  name  to  Loch  Ness,  so 
that  of  his  love  is  perpetuated  in  the  vitrified  fort  of  Duc-Jardil 
on  the  south  shore  of  the  lake. 

The  wars  of  the  Picts,  and  the  subsequent  invasions  of  the 
Norsemen  I  shall  merely  mention.  During  those  events  the  pro- 
vince of  Moray  was  one  great  scene  of  blood.  The  Pictish  king- 
dom of  the  North  ceased  to  exist,  and  a  new  order  of  rulers  appeared 
in  the  Maormors.  The  Maormors  of  Moray  claimed  the  inde- 
pendence which  of  old  belonged  to  the  Pictish  kings.  In  the 
Irish  Annals  they  are  frequently  styled  JRi  or  kings,  and  two  of 
them,  Malcolm  and  the  famous  Macbeth,  not  only  maintained  the 

*  This  was  a  favourite  mode  among  Celts  and  Saxons  of  closing  tragic 
tales  and  poems.  Thus  in  the  old  English  ballad  of  "Fair  Margaret  and 
Sweet  William"  we  have  the  following  : — 

"  Margaret  was  buried  in  the  lower  chancel, 

And  William  in  the  higher ; 

Out  of  her  breast  there  sprang  a  rose, 

And  out  of  his  a  briar. 

They  grew  till  they  grew  into  the  church  top 

And  then  they  could  grow  no  higher  ; 

And  there  they  tyed  in  a  true  lover's  knot, 

Which  made  all  the  people  admire. 

The  words  of  the  Scottish  ballad  of  the  "  Douglas  Tragedy"  are  similar : — 

Lord  William  was  buried  in  St  Marie's  Kirk, 

Lady  Margaret  in  Marie's  Qnire 

Out  o'  the  lady's  grave  grew  a  bonny  red  rose, 

And.  out  o'  the  knight's  a  brier  ; 

And  they  twa  met  and  they  twa  plat, 

And  fain  they  wad  be  near  ; 

And  a'  the  world  might  ken  right  weel 

They  were  twa  lovers  dear. 


156  TRANSACTIONS. 

independence  of  their  native  province,  but  ultimately  seated  them- 
selves on  the  Scottish  throne.  Towards  the  end  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury the  Norse  firmly  established  themselves  in  the  district  north 
of  the  River  Beauly,  and  for  a  century  thereafter  a  continuous  war 
waged  between  them  and  the  sturdy  men  of  Moray.  In  connection 
with  those  struggles  tradition  relates  that  Mony  the  son  of  the 
king  of  Scandinavia  (Monaidk  Mac  High  Lochlainn)  landed  on  the 
West  Coast  with  his  sister  and  a  large  force.  Their  retreat  to 
their  vessels  having  been  cut  off  by  the  Gael,  they  were  pursued 
northwards  until  they  reached  Glen  Urquhart  whei'e  they  made  a 
stand  on  the  high  rock  of  Craig  Mony.  Here  they  bravely  held 
their  own  for  a  time,  but  driven  at  last  to  the  plain  below,  still 
called  Dal  Mony,  they  had  to  give  battle  and  were  defeated  with 
great  lo;s.  Mony  escaped  with  his  sister  ;  but  at  Corrimony,  ten 
miles  off,  he  was  slain,  and  his  body  buried  in  the  cave  still  known 
as  Uaigh  Mhonaidh.  The  people  of  the  Glen  took  kindly  to  the 
hapless  Princess  and  she  lived  among  them  many  a  day.  A  cre- 
vice in  Craig  Mony,  called  the  Bed  of  the  King's  Daughter 
(Leabaidh  nighean  an  RigJi)  is  still  pointed  out  as  the  place  in 
which  she  sought  shelter  during  the  fight  on  the  Craig. 

The  men  of  Moray  were  for  sometime  forced  to  acknow- 
ledge the  supremacy  of  the  Norse ;  but  on  the  death  of  King 
Thorfinn  in  1064,  the  native  chiefs  regained  their  independence. 
But  the  Scottish  Kings  looked  with  a  covetous  eye  upon  the  fair 
province,  and  a  struggle  commenced  which  continued  for  upwards 
of  a  century.  In  1130  the  Celts  sustained  a  disastrous  defeat 
which  the  Irish  Annals  of  Innisfallen  record  in  the  signifi- 
cant words,  "  Ar  fer  Muriamh  in  Attain" — the  death  of  the  men 
of  Moray  in  Alban  ;  and  their  ever  reviving  spirit  of  independence 
was  further  crushed  in  1160  In  that  year,  we  are  told  by  Fordun, 
King  Malcolm  "  removed  them  all  from  the  land  of  their  birth, 
and  scattered  them  throughout  the  other  districts  in  Scotland  both 
beyond  the  hills  and  on  this  (the  south)  side  thereof,  so  that  not 
even  a  native  of  that  land  abode  there,  and  he  installed  therein  his 
own  peaceful  people."  It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  the  exten- 
sive province  was  entirely  swept  of  its  ancient  inhabitants,  and  it 
is  more  probable  that  Malcolm  merely  removed  the  chief  families 
and  so  deprived  the  people  of  their  leaders. 

Among  those  thus  dispossessed  were  the  Macraes  and  Macleans, 
who  inhabited  Urquhart,  the  Aird,  Abriachan,  and  Kilfinnan. 
Urquhart  and  the  Castle  were  granted  to  an  Irish  adventurer  of 
the  name  of  Conachar,  well  known  for  having  slain  a  monster 


HISTORY   OF   GLKJf   AND    CASTLE    OP    URQUHART.  157 

boar  of  great  ferocity.  From  this  hero  are  descended  the  clans  of 
Mackay,  Forbes,  and  Urquhart,  in  whose  respective  shields  appear 
three  boars'  heads  in  honour  of  their  ancestor's  great  adventure  ; 
and  to  the  same  source  may  be  traced  the  presence  of  the  boar's 
head  in  the  arms  of  the  families  of  Chisholm,  Rose,  and  Mackin- 
tosh each  of  whom  had  at  subsequent  periods  an  interest  in  Con- 
achar's  glen  and  castle. 

The  Mackays  were  descended  from  Conachar  through  his  son 
Alexander,  who,  about  the  year  1180,  was  sent  into  Caithness  by 
William  the  Lion  to  expel  the  Danes.  He  succeeded,  and  received 
as  his  reward  a  grant  of  the  lands  which  they  had  possessed,  and 
became  the  first  chief  of  the  clan.  Some  of  the  name  were,  how- 
ever, left  behind  in  our  glen,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see. 

The  family  of  Forbes  are  descended  from  Conachar's  son  John, 
who,  in  the  reign  of  William  the  Lion,  got  a  grant  of  the  lands  of 
Forbois  in  Aberdeenshire,  and  took  his  surname  from  the  estate. 

In  the  curious  work  entitled  "  The  True  Pedigree  and  Lineal 
Descent  of  the  most  ancient  and  honourable  Family  of  the 
Urquharts  in  the  House  of  Cromarty  from  the  Creation  of  the 
World  until  the  year  of  God  1652,"  by  Sir  Thomas  Urquhart  of 
Cromarty,  that  eccentric  antiquarian  relates  that,  in  the  year  554 
before  Christ,  "  Beltistos  married  Thomyris.  This  BeHistos  was 
surnamed  Conchar,  for  which  cause  a  certain  progeny  descended 
of  him  is,  till  this  hour,  called  the  generation  of  the  Ochoncbars,  a 
race  truly  of  great  antiquity  and  renown  in  the  dominion  of 
Ireland.  Belistos  founded  the  Castle  of  Urquhart  above  Inner- 
nasse,  which  being  afterwards  completed  by  his  posterity,  hath 
ever  since  been  called  the  Castle  Vickichonchar."  Sir  Thomas 
wrote  his  Pedigree,  as  Bunyan  wrote  his  Pilgrim,  in  prison, 
where  he  was  confined  for  two  years  by  Oliver  Crom- 
well, and  we  can,  perhaps,  pardon  him  for  having  placed 
his  renowned  ancestor  seventeen  hundred  years  anterior  to 
the  time  in  which  he  actually  lived.  From  the  antiquarian  Nisbet 
(born  1672)  we  learn  that  a  brother  of  the  Lords  Forbes  "  having 
in  keeping  the  Castle  of  Urquhart,  took  his  name  from  the  place  ;" 
and  William  Forbes,  who  wrote  in  1667,  states  that  Conachar's 
second  son  "  was  called  Urquhart,  of  qm.  is  descended  the  Laird 
of  Cromartie  and  the  Urquharts  ;  and  to  testifye  to  all  posteritie 
that  they  descended  of  him  that  killed  the  beast,  they  caused  erect 
just  the  like  monuments  at  the  Castill  of  Urquhart  as  is  lying  at 
Logie,  which  is  yet  to  be  seen  there  as  is  alleadged."  This  son, 
then,  who  was  called  Urquhart,  settled  in  Ross-shire,  and  gave  his 


158  TRANSACTIONS. 

name  to  Urquhart  of  Ferrintosh,  and  it  is  interesting  to  find  that 
his  father's  name  is  still  preserved  in  Bad-Ochonachar,  near  In- 
vergordon,  as  it  is  in  Innis-Ochonochar  in  Glen-Urquhart. 

Led  by  topography,  we  cross  the  Moray  Firth  from  Ross  to 
Elginshire,  where  we  find  a  place  called  Tnnis  within  the  parish 
of  Urquhart.  This  was  anciently  the  seat  of  the  family  of  Innes. 
Their  crest  is  the  boar's  head.  The  first  of  the  family  on  record  is 
Berowald  Flandrensis,  to  whom  the  lands  of  Innes  and  Easter- 
Urquhart  were  granted  by  Malcolm  Caninore  after  the  expulsion 
of  the  ancient  Moray  families.  From  his  name,  he  is  generally 
supposed  to  nave  been  a  native  of  Fianders  ;  but,  as  remarked  by 
Forbes  of  Cullo'len,  who  wrote  an  account  of  the  family  in  1698, 
he  may  have  received  that  name  from  his  having  travelled  in  that 
country-,  just  as  the  Frasers  of  Foyers  were  called  /Sliockd  Huistein 
Fhrangaich,  from  one  of  them  having  visited  France  ;  and  their 
crest  and  the  topography  of  their  possessions  lead  me  to  suppose 
that  the  family  of  Innes  may  in  some  way  have  been  connected 
with  Conachar. 

Saint  Coiumba  himself  first  preached  the  Gospel  in  Glen 
Urquhart.  Born  in  Ireland  about  the  year  518,  he  early  evinced 
a  strong  missionary  zeal  and  this  spirit  was  encouraged  by  his 
tutor,  Finian  of  Clonard,  to  wbom  the  ancient  church  of  Abriachan, 
still  known  in  Gaelic  as  Gill  Fhianain,  was  dedicated.  Crossing 
from  Ireland  about  the  year  563,  he  established  the  famous  insti- 
tution of  Tona,  and  then  resolved  to  convey  the  message  of  redemp- 
tion into  the  veiy  palace  of  the  Pictish  King  Brude,  who  resided 
at  Bona.  Adamnan,  who  wrote  in  the  year  695,  tells  us  that  on 
his  way  the  missionary  came  to  a  place  on  the  north  shore  of  Loch 
Ness,  called  Airchartdan  —a  name  in  which  we  easily  recognise 
Urckudainn  the  modern  Gaelic  name  of  our  Glen.  Here  he 
preached  to  Emchadus,  an  old  man  whom  he  found  at  the  point  of 
deai'h.  Emchadus,  we  are  told,  believed,  and  ascended  to  Heaven 
in  the  company  of  angels  ;  and  his  son  Yirolecus  and  his  whole 
house  were  likewise  converted  and  baptized.  Thereafter  Coluinba 
proceeded  to  Bona,  where  he  worked  many  miracles,  for  an  account 
of  which,  I  refer  you  to  Adanman  and  to  Dr  M'Lauchlan's  "Early 
Scottish  Church." 

The  good  work  which  Coiumba  commenced  was,  says  tradition, 
continued  by  his  nephew,  Drostan  or  Crostan,  after  wbom  our  Glen 
is  called  Urchudainn  Maith  Chrostan — St  t)rostan's  Urquhart — 
to  this  day.  In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Balmacaan  House  are 
St  Drostan's  croft  (Croit  Maith  Chrostan)  and  the  Monk's  Hollow 


HISTORY    OF    GLEN    AND    CASTLE    OF    URQUHART.  159 

(Glaic  a  MJian/rain),  names  which  go  far  to  shew  that  tradition  is 
correct,  and  that  Drostaii  laboured  in  the  Glen. 

The  simple  Culdee  Church  of  St  Columba  through  time  merged 
into  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  and  the  province  of  Moray  was  erected 
into  a  diocese  and  a  bishop  appointed,  in  the  time  of  Alexander 
I.,  who  reigned  from  1107  to  1124.  About  the  end  of  that  century 
a  church  was  built  in  Urquhart,  and  .shortly  thereafter  Glenmoris- 
ton  received  a  chapel.  The  former  was  a  parsonage  dedicated  to 
the  virgin — hence  th  e  name  Gill  M/toire,  now  corr;  i  pted  into  Kilmore ; 
thechurch  of  Glenmoriston  was  dedicated  to  St  Richard.  Thefirstmeu- 
tion  I  find  of  the  Church  of  Abriachan  (Gill  FMaiiain)  is  in  a  deed 
dated  ]  239,  in  which  Bishop  Andrew  declares,  "  ecclesia  de 
Abirihacyn,"  to  \vhich  considerable  lands  were  annexed,  to  be 
the  common  property  of  the  Canons  of  Moray,  except  one-half 
davoch  of  land  which  exclusively  belonged  to  the  Bishop  himself. 
To  the  Church  of  Kilmore  also  certain  lands  were  attached,  the 
revenue  of  which  was  enjoyed  by  the  Chancellor  of  Moray,  who 
resided  at  Inveravon  in  Strathspey. 

During  the  time  of  Bricius,  who  was  Bishop  of  Moray  from 
1203  to  1222,  the  Celts  of  the  province  again  rose  in  open  re- 
bellion against  the  Scottish  king.  They  were  led  by  Gillespic 
MacScolane,  who  claimed  the  rights  of  the  ancient  Maormors, 
from  whom  he  was  descended.  MacScolane  and  his  followers 
looked  with  no  friendly  eye  on  the  Church  and  the  feudal  institu- 
tions which  it  fostered,  and  so  freely  did  it  suffer  at  their 
hands  that  Pope  Innocent  III.  had,  in  January  1215,  to  issue 
from  his  far-off  home  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  a  special  protection 
over  several  churches  in  the  diocese.  Among  them  was  that  of 
our  glen — "  ecclesia  de  UrcJuird  ultra  Inuernys."  By  this  document 
the  indignation  of  Almighty  God  and  of  the  blessed  Apostles  Peter 
and  Paul  wis  declared  against  all  who  interfered  with  the  churches 
named  or  their  possessions  ;  but  the  men  of  Moray  cared  for  none 
of  these  things,  and  it  was  not  until  MacScolane  and  his  two  sons 
were  treacherously  slain  in  1222  that  the  Church  enjoyed  peace 
and  felicity. 

Upon  the  suppression  of  MacScolane's  insurrection — the  last 
attempt  of  the  sturdy  Celts  of  Moray  to  restore  their  ancient  insti- 
tutions— the  old  plan  of  bestowing  the  lands  of  the  offenders  upon 
strangers  was  resorted  to.  Urouhart  and  Boleskine  were  granted 
to  Thomas  Durward  or  Hostiarius,  who  possessed  extensive  estates 
in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom.  At  the  same  time  he  was  ap- 
pointed Sheriff  of  Inverness.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Sir 


160  TRANSACTIONS. 

Allan  Hostiarius,  Great  Justiciary  or  Chief-Justice  of  Scotland, 
who  was  married  to  Marjory,  an  illegitimate  daughter  of  King 
Alexander  TIL  Sir  Allan  coveted  and  claimed  the  lands  in  Glen- 
TJrquhart  which  belonged  to  the  Church,  and  the  revenue  of  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  went  to  the  Chancellor  of  Moray.  William,  who 
was  Chancellor  at  the  time,  resisted  the  claim,  but  at  last  a  com- 
promise was  effected,  and  its  terms  embodied  in  a  Latin  deed, 
which  does  credit  to  the  lawyers  of  that  remote  period.  The  noble 
person,  Sir  Allan  Hostiarius,  says  this  document,  "  for  the  sake  of 
peace,  has  given  to  the  church  of  Urquhart  half  the  lands  sought, 
viz.-  the  half  of  the  half  davoch,  which  is  called  the  half  davoch 
of  the  foresaid  church,  in  pure,  free,  and  perpetual  elimosina.  But 
he  and  his  heii'S  will  possess  the  other  half  of  the  half  davoch  in 
perpetual  feu  farm  :  giving  therefor  yearly  to  the  church  of 
Urquhart  ten  shillings,  viz. — 5s  at  Pentecost  (Whitsunday),  and 
5s  at  the  feast  of  St  Martin  (Martinmas)  in  winter  next  following. 
But  further,  the  said  church  of  Urquhart  will  have  one  whole  croft 
and  one  toft  of  four  acres  assigned  to  the  said  church  near  it, 
in  a  suitable  and  convenient  place,  in  gift  of  the  said  noble  person, 
in  pure,  free,  and  perpetual  elimosina."  This  agreement  is  dated 
10th  March  1233,  and  among  the  witnesses  to  it  is  "  Gilereoch  de 
Urchard,"  perhaps  the  parson  of  the  time.  The  half  davoch  in 
dispute  was  Achmony,  which  was  church  property  very  eai-ly, 
and  was  feued  by  the  Bishop  to  Sir  B,obert  Lauder  in  1334, 
and  thereafter  successively  to  other  governors  of  the  Castle,  until 
it  was  purchased  in  1554  by  John  Mackay  of  Achmony.  The 
croft  and  loft  of  four  acres  near  the  Church  mentioned  in  the 
agreement,  probably  agree  pretty  nearly  with  the  present  Glebe. 

In  1275,  Hostiarius  died,  leaving  no  male  heir,  and  his  estates 
were  divided  among  his  three  daughters.  His  great  rivals,  the 
Cummings  of  Badenoch,  seem  soon  afterwards  to  have  obtained 
possession  of  the  Castle,  which  they  retained  until  the  wars  of 
Edward  of  England. 

The  sad  death  of  King  Alexander  the  Third  in  1286  ;  the 
equally  disastrous  death  of  his  heiress,  the  Maid  of  Norway,  in 
1290,  the  consequent  appearance  of  several  competitors  for  the 
Crown  of  Scotland  ;  the  award  of  Edward  I.  of  .England  in  favour 
of  Baliol ;  the  irksome  position  which  Baliol  occupied  as  vassal  of 
Edward  ;  his  renunciation  of  his  allegiance ;  and  the  consequent 
invasion  of  Scotland  by  the  English  King — these  events  are  well 
known  to  every  reader  of  Scottish  history.  Baliol  was  crushed. 
Edward  marched  victoriously  as  far  as  Elgin,  from  whence  he  sent 


HISTORY    OF    GLEN   AND    CASTLE    OF    URQUHA.RT.  161 

out  detachments  of  his  army  to  occupy  the  northern  castles.  John 
de  Warreue,  Earl  of  Surrey,  was  appointed  Governor  of  the 
Kingdom ;  and  William  Fitz  Warrene,  probably  a  son  of  Surrey, 
was  made  Constable  of  Urquhart.  The  King  returned  to  England, 
leaving  Scotland,  as  he  thought,  subdued,  and  taking  with  him  the 
flower  of  the  Scottish  leaders,  among  whom  was  John  of  Glen 
Urquhart,  who  was  imprisoned  in  the  Castle  of  Berkhamstead, 
until  30th  July,  1297,  when  he  was  liberated  upon  condition  of 
serving  with  the  English  army  in  France. 

And  now  arose  in  the  South  a  deliverer,  in  the  person  of  Sir 
William  Wallace.  Sir  Andrew  Moray,  younger  of  Bothwell,  his 
companion  in  arms,  was  proprietor  of  Petty  and  Avoch,  in  our 
vicinity,  and  had  influence  in  the  North  ;  and  to  him  was  entrusted 
the  duty  of  raising  the  Highlanders.  Gathering  before  the  Castle 
of  Urquhart,  they  sorely  beleagured  Fitz  Warrene  and  his 
English  garrison.  Ominous  reports  reached  the  English  King, 
and  on  the  llth  June,  1297,  he  addressed  letters  to  Henry  le 
Chen,  the  warrior  Bishop  of  Aberdeen,  and  to  Gratney,  Earl  of 
Mar,  requesting  them  to  proceed  with  all  speed  to  the  relief  of 
the  Castle.  Obedient  to  those  instructions,  the  Bishop  and  the 
Earl  led  an  army  towards  our  Glen.  At  Inverness,  they  were 
met  by  the  Countess  of  Ross,  who,  we  are  told,  gave  them  aid  in 
counsel  and  men  ;  and  the  Constable  of  Scotland,  too,  sent  forward 
all  the  troops  he  could  muster.  Upon  the  approach  of  the  large 
army  thus  thrown  into  our  now  peaceful  vale,  the  Highlanders 
prudently  raised  the  siege  and  betook  themselves  to  the  neighbour- 
ing fastnesses.  But  it  was  only  for  a  season,  for  soon  afterwards 
the  fort  was  wrested  from  the  English  by  Wallace  and  his  band  of 
patriots.  Fitz  Warrene,  was  expelled  ;  and  Sir  Alexander  Forbes 
(de  Forbois  sometimes  contracted  into  Bois),  great-great-grands(  n 
of  Conachar,  was  appointed  in  his  stead  * 

Edward,  thus  baffled  and  disappointed  in  his  fondest  desire,  in 
1303  concluded  a  treaty  of  peace  with  France,  and  with  an 
immense  army  of  English,  Welsh,  Irish  and  Gascons  invaded 
Scotland,  determined  finally  to  crush  the  nation.  Meeting  with 
little  opposition,  he  marched  north  as  far  as  Lochandorb,  near 
Forres,  burning  and  laying  waste  the  country.  From  Lochandorb, 
he  sent  forth  his  army  against  the  neighbouring  castles.  Those  of 
Elgin,  Forres,  Nairn,  and  Inverness,  awed  by  the  near  presence  of 

*  Sir  Alexander  was  the  son  of  Duncan  de  Forbois,  who  was  the  son  of 
Fergus,  who  waa  the  son  of  Jehn,  who  was  the  son  of  Conachar. 

K 


1 62  TRANSACTIONS. 

the  Hammer  of  the  Scottish  nation,  opened  their  gates  without 
resistance  ;  but  it  was  otherwise  with  the  Castle  of  Urquhart. 
In  the  letters  which,  as  we  have  seen,  Edward  addressed  to  Le 
Chen  and  Gratney  in  June,  1297,  he  directed  them,  upon  their 
arrival  in  Urquhart,  to  consult  with  Fitz  Warrene  as  to  the  best 
mode  of  adding  to  the  strength  of  the  Castle  so  as  to  prevent  its 
ever  being  taken  by  the  Highlanders.  The  result  of  the  consulta- 
tion probably  was  the  erection  by  the  English  of  those  massive 
entrance  towers  which  guard  the  only  landward  approach  to  the 
fort,  and  which  are  said  to  be  in  the  peculiar  style  of  architecture 
practised  by  Edward.  Those  towers,  built  to  withstand  the 
Highlanders,  had  now  become  their  defence;  and  when  the 
English  commander  summoned  the  garrison  to  surrender,  Forbes 
declined  with  scorn.  The  English,  therefore,  encamped  on  the 
level  neck  of  land  connecting  the  high  rock  on  which  the  Castle  is 
built,  with  the  adjacent  Hill  of  Strone,  and  resolved  to  starve  the 
Castle  into  submisssion.  Winter  was  near,  and  Edward  returned 
south  and  took  up  his  quarters  at  Dunferrnline. 

During  the  winter  and  spring  months,  the  English  army 
patiently  lay  before  the  Castle,  supporting  themselves  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  surrounding  country ;  while  the  brave  band  on  the 
rock  husbanded  their  scanty  provisions  to  the  utmost.  But 
towards  the  close  of  the  spring  (1304)  the  last  morsel  was  doled 
out,  and  Forbes  and  his  companions  resolved  to  fight  their  way 
through  the  enemy  or  die  in  the  attempt.  The  English  saw  with 
joy  the  drawbridge  lowered  ;  but  the  only  person  who  crossed 
was  an  ill  clad  beggarly-looking  female.  Is  this  one  of  those 
knowing  women  in  whom  the  superstitious  Highlanders  believe, 
chosen  by  them  to  negotiate  terms  of  surrender  1  Upon  her  ap- 
proach she  informs  the  English  that  she  is  a  poor  person,  who 
happened  to  be  within  the  Castle  when  the  siege  commenced,  and 
that  her  present  condition — for  she  is  about  to  become  a  mother — 
necessitates  her  venturing  out.  Her  story  is  believed ;  she  is 
generously  permitted  to  pass ;  and  she  betakes  herself  to  the 
neighbouring  hill,  from  which,  as  from  the  gallery  of  a  theatre, 
she  may  witness  the  next  step  to  be  taken  by  her  husband — for 
she  is  none  other  than  the  wife  of  the  Governor,  clad  in  beggar's 
garb,  the  more  easily  to  escape  detection. 

When  Forbes  saw  his  wife    safely  ascend   the  opposite  hill, 
the  draw-bridge  was  again  made  to  span  the  moat,  and  he  and 


HISTORY    OF    GLEN    AND    CASTLE    OF    CRQUHART.  163 

his  followers  dashed  across  and  "at  the  astonished  Saxons.  The 
devoted  band  fought  long  and  well — 

1 '  They  fought  together  as  brethren  true, 

Like  hardy  men  and  bolde, 
Many  a  man  to  the  ground  they  thrue, 

And  many  a  harte  made  colde. " 

But  it  was  not  possible  for  them  to  pierce  through  the  mass  of 
soldiery  which  confronted  them,  and  they  were  cut  down  to  a 
man.* 

Such,  as  we  gather  from  'Boece  (born  1465),  Abercromby  and 
other  old  writers,  is  the  history  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
sieges  in  the  history  of  our  country.  Forbes'  wife,  "  with  her  life 
saved,"  observes  old  Holingshed,  "being  suffered  to  depart,  got 
over  into  Ireland,  where  she  was  delivered  of  a  son,  that  was 
named  at  the  font-stone  Alexander,  who  when  Scotland  was 
recovered  out  of  the  Englishmen's  hands,  came  to  King  Robert  the 
Bruce,  requiring  him  to  be  restored  into  his  father's  heritage,  being 
as  then  in  the  occupation  of  other  possessors.  King  Robert 
doubtful  what  to  do  herein,  for  he  thought  it  neither  convenient 
that  a  Prince  should  take  lands  or  possessions  from  noblemen 
which  had  been  given  to  them  in  reward  of  their  manhood,  showed 
in  defence  of  the  realise ;  neither  judged  he  it  reason  to  keep 
him  from  his  rightfull  inheritance,  that  had  lost  his  father,  his 
friends  and  all  his  whole  substance  in  the  like  cause  and  quarell 
by  injurie  of  the  common  enemies.  Wherefore  to  qualine  the 
matter  he  devised  this  means  ;  he  gave  into  this  Alexander  Boyis 
certaine  other  lands  in  Mar,  nothing  lesse  in  value  (considering  the 
largenesse  and  fertilitie)  than  the  other  of  Urquhaid  were ;  and 
willed  him  to  content  himself  with  those,  in  recompense  of  such  as 
belonged  to  Fhis  father  ;  to  the  intent  that  all  parties  might  be 
satisfied,  and  no  man  should  seeme  to  have  wrong  in  being  deprived 
of  his  rightful  possessions." 

The  year  1305  saw  Wallace  betrayed  by  the  false  Menteith, 
conveyed  to  London,  and  put  to  death  with  cruelty  and  tortures 
which  stamp  the  character  of  Edward  the  First  of  England  with 
indelible  infamy.  But  a  second  bright  star  arose  to  lead  the  Scot- 
tish Patriots ;  and  the  year  after  that  in  which  Wallace  died  saw 
Bruce  crowned  king  of  Scotland.  The  king's  nephew  and  warm 
supporter,  the  renowned  Sir  Thomas  Randolph,  was  created  Earl 

*  The  Castle  contained  accommodation  for  600  men,  and  it  was  possible 
that  Forbes'  company  numbered  that. 

v  9 


164  TRANSACTIONS. 

of  Moray,  and  received  a  grant  of  that  province,  including  our 
glen  ;  and  it  was  thus  that  the  king,  as  we  have  seen,  was  after- 
wards unable  to  restore  the  Glen  and  Castle  to  young  Forbes,  on 
his  arrival  from  Ireland  to  claim  his  father's  possessions.  At  the 
Battle  of  Bannockburn,  Randolph  led  the  centre  of  the  Scottish 
army,  and  among  his  soldiers,  says  Holingshed,  the  Englishman 
whom  I  have  already  quoted,  were  three  thousand  fierce  ard  for- 
ward Irish  Scots,  otherwise  called  Katerans,  or  Red  Shanks.  In 
the  men  thus  described,  we  need  have  no  difficulty  in  recognising 
the  impetuous  and  kilted  Gaelic-speaking  Highlanders  of  Ran- 
dolph's northern  possessions.  And  here  let  me  protest  against 
the  ignorance  and  prejudice  which  have  led  men  who  were  looked 
upon  as  authorities  on  the  subject,  to  state  that  the  Highlanders 
had  no  share  in  the  glorious  and  stirring  events  which  secured  the 
independence  of  Scotland.  We  have  seen  what  the  Highlanders 
of  TJrquhart  did  under  Sir  Andrew  Moray  and  Forbes.  General 
Stewart  mentions  no  less  than  eighteen  Highland  Chiefs  who 
fought  under  Bruce  at  Bannockburn ;  and  no  unbiassed  man  who 
has  any  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  Highlands  and  of  the 
relationship  which  existed  between  the  chiefs  and  their  people, 
under  the  clan  system,  can  suppose  that  the  chiefs  were  in  the 
army  of  Bruce  unaccompanied  by  their  respective  clans. 

In  1329  the  good  King  Robert  died,  having  bequeathed  his 
Crown  to  his  infant  son,  David  II.,  and,  with  his  dying  breath, 
appointed  Randolph  regent.  Edward  Baliol  claimed  the  Crown, 
and  he  was  supported  by  the  English,  who  entered  on  a  new  war 
against  Scotland.  The  year  1332  saw  the  great  Randolph  die.  He 
was  su-^ceededin  his  title  and  lands  by  his  eldest  son  Thomas  who,  on 
his  death  in  the  same  year  on  the  fatal  field  of  Dupplin,  gave  place 
to  his  brother  John  Randolph.  The  result  of  the  battle  of  Dupplin 
was  that  Baliol  was  crowned  King ;  but  the  people  were  against 
him,  and  he  was  soon  expelled  the  country.  Thereupon  the 
English  King  resolved  personally  to  lead  his  army  against  the  Scots, 
and  resist  the  usurper.  At  Halidon  Hill  (1333)  the  Scots  were  de- 
feated with  great  carnage,  and  then  followed  the  almost  entire  sub- 
mission of  their  country.  Five  of  the  principal  castles,  however, 
refused  to  submit  to  the  English  or  acknowledge  Baliol  King ; 
and,  as  of  old,  Urquhart  was  found  among  the  faithful  few.  *  Its 
governor  was  Sir  Robert  Lauder  of  Quarrelwood,  one  of  the 

*The  other  loyal  castles  were  Dumbarton,  Lochleven,  Kildrummie, 
and  Lochdown  in  Carrick. 


HISTORY   OF    GLEN   AND   CASTLE 'OF    URQUHART.  165 

doughty  Lauders  of  the  Bass.  Hastening  north  from  the  fatal 
hill  of  Halidon,  he  garrisoned  the  Castle  and  resolved  to  defend  it 
to  the  utmost.  Next  year  (1334)  the  invaders  appeared  in  our 
glen,  and  assaulted  and  besieged  the  Castle ;  but  so  well  was 
Lauder  prepared  for  them  that  they  were  obliged  to  raise  the  siege 
and  return  south. 

Sir  Robert  Lauder  probably  occupied  the  lands  which  formed 
the  Barony  of  TJrquhart,  as  tenant  of  Randolph,  Earl  of  Moray. 
In  1334,  in  consideration  of  his  many  services  to  the  church  and  of 
an  annual  feu-duty  of  four  merks  sterling,  he  received  a  charter 
from  John  Pilmore,  Bishop  of  Moray,  of  the  "  half  davoch  of  our 
land  of  Aberbreachy  (Abriachan)  lying  between  the  Barony  of 
Bonach  (Bona)  on  the  east,  on  the  one  side,  and  the  Barony  of 
Orchard  (TJrquhart)  on  the  west,  with  our  land  of  Auchmunie 
(Achmony)  lying  between  the  land  of  Drumbuy  on  the  east  side 
and  the  land  of  Cartaly  on  the  west."  I  have  already  mentioned 
that  Abriaohan  and  Achmony  belonged  to  the  Church  from  a  very 
early  period. 

About  the  year  1336,  the  Castle  seems  to  have  been  for  a  time 
under  the  immediate  charge  of  Richard  Cumming,  who  held  it  in 
faithful  allegiance  to  King  David.  Sir  Robert  Lauder  was  still 
the  Constable,  and  we  find  him  one  of  the  witnesses  to  a 
charter  granted  by-  the  Earl  of  Ross  to  Reginald,  son  of 
Roderick  of  the  Isles,  and  executed  at  the  Castle  on  4th  July 
1342.  To  show  you  how  important  were  the  gatherings  of  that 
remote  period  within  those  walls  whose  ruins  still  speak  of  their 
former  grandeur,  I  shall  give  you  the  other  witnesses  to  that 
charter.  They  were  :  The  Venerable  Fathers  in  Christ,  Lords 
John  and  Roger,  by  the  grace  of  God,  Bishops  of  Moray  and  Ross; 
Robert-  de  Lauder  ,  James  de  Kerdale,  and  William  de  Mowbray, 
knights ;  Sir  Thomas  de  Lichtoun,  Canon  of  Moray,  John  de 
Barclay,  Adam  de  TJrcharde,  John  Yong  de  Dingwall,  and  many 
others  cleric  and  laic.* 

Sir  Robert  Lauder's  only  daughter,  Anne,  was  married  to  Sir 
John  Chisholm,  son  of  the  Lord  of 'Chisholm  in  Roxburghshire. 
Their  son,  Sir  Robert  Chisholm,  received,  in  1345,  a  charter  from 
John  Randolph,  Earl  of  Moray,  of  "  two  davochs  af  land  within 

* "  Venerabilis  in  Christo  dominis  Johanne  et  Rogero  Die  gracia 
Morauie  et  Rossie  episcopis  dominis  Roberto  de  Lawedre  Jacobe  de  Kerdale 
et  Willielmo  de  Mowbray  militibus  domino  Thoma  de  Lichtoun  canonico 
Morauiensi  Jphanne  de  Berclay  Adam  de  Vrcharde  Johanne  Yong  de 
Dyngvale  et  multis  aliis  clericis  et  laicis." 


166  TRANSACTIONS. 

our  Barony  of  Urquhart,  viz.,  the  half  davoch  of  Innermorchen 
(Invermoriston),  the  quarter  davoch  of  Blare  (Blary),  and  the 
quarter  davoch  of  Lochletare  (Lochletter),  the  three-quarter's 
davoch  of  Inchebrene  (Inchbrine),  and  the  quarter  davoch  of  Duls- 
hangy  (Dalshangy)."  These  lands  were  the  first  Highland  pos- 
sessions of  the  family  of  Chisholm. 

In  1346  John  .Randolph,  the  proprietor  of  the  Castle  and 
Barony  of  Urquhart,  was  killed  at  the  battle  ot  Durham.  His 
sister,  "  Black  Agnes,"  famous  in  Scottish  song  and  story,  suc- 
ceeded to  his  vast  estates,  and  her  husband,  the  Earl  of  Dunbar, 
assumed  the  title  of  Earl  of  Moray.  It  would  appear,  however, 
that  the  Castle  and  Barony  were  retained  in  the  hands  of  the 
King,  by  whom  they  were  in  1359,  granted  to  William,  Earl  of 
Sutherland.  They  soon  afterwards  were  again  in  his  majesty's 
possession  ;  and  he  in  1371  specially  excepted  them  from  his  grant 
of  the  Earldom  of  Moray  to  John  of  Dunbar,  son  of  "  Black 
Agnes,"  and  gave  them  to  his  own  son  David,  Earl  of  Strathern, 
and;  failing  him  to  his  (the  King's)  son  Alexander,  well  known  in 
history  as  the  "  Wolf  of  Badenoch.'' 

Sir  Robert  Chisholm,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  acquired  the  lands 
of  Invermoriston,  Blary,  Dalshangy,  Lochletter,  and  Inchbrine,  in 
1345,  became  Constable  of  the  Castle  in  1359,  in  succession  to  his 
grandfather,  Sir  Robert  Lauder,  whom  he  also  succeeded  in  the 
lands  of  Achmony  and  Abriachan.  He  subsequently  became 
Justiciary  or  Chief  Justice  of  the  North,  and  one  of  the  most 
influential  men  in  Scotland.  On  2nd  January  1364,  a  contract 
was  entered  into  between  "  the  noble  men,  Sir  Robert  Chisholm, 
keeper  of  the  Castle  of  Urquhart,  on  the  one  part,  and  Hugh  Rose, 
Lord  of  Kilravock,  on  the  other  part,"  by  which  Kilravock  bound 
himself  to  marry  Sir  Robert's  daughter,  Janet,  in  consideration  of 
•which  Sir  Robert  agreed  to  give  to  "the  said  Hugh  and  his  heirs 
between  Hugh  himself  and  the  foresaid  Janet,  ten  merks  of  land 
of  Cantrabundie,  with  all  its  pertinents,  within  Strathnairn."  One 
clause  of  this  ancient  marriage  contract  is  worthy  of  preservation 
as  a  model  for  modern  writs  of  the  same  nature  : — "  From  the  day 
of  the  celebration  of  the  said  marriage  the  said  Sir  Robert  shall 
keep  and  entertain  his  said  daughter  for  three  whole  year's  in  meat 
and  drink,  but  the  said  Hugh  shall  find  and  keep  her  in  all 
needful  garments  and  ornaments." 

Sir  Robert,  in  his  old  age,  ceased  to  be  Constable  of  the  Castle, 
and  resigned  his  lands  of  Invermoriston,  Blary,  Dalshangy,  Loch- 
letter, and  Inchbrine  into  the  hands  of  the  King,  and  the  lands  of 


HISTORY    OF    GLEN    AND    CASTLE    OP    URQUHART.  167 

Achmony  and  Abriachan  into  those  of  the  Bishop  of  Moray.  The 
former  were,  consequently,  in  1384,  granted  by  the  King  to  his 
son,  the  Wolf  of  Badenoch,  who,  about  the  same  time  acquired 
the  Castle  and  Barony  in  feu  from  his  brother  David.  The  Wolf, 
however,  would  neither  pay  David  the  stipulated  feu-duty,  nor  give 
up  possession,  and,  consequently,  David  in  1385  complained  to 
Parliament,  by  whom  the  matter  was  remitted  to  the  King's  other 
children  for  amicable  settlement. 

On  3d  February  1386,  the  Wolf  got  a  charter  from  the  Bishop 
of  Moray  of  the  lands  of  Achmony  and  Abriachan  ;  but  for  this 
and  other  "  church  privileges "  of  a  similar  nature  that  worthy, 
four  years  later,  paid  the  bishop  in  a  characteristic  manner,  by 
burning  "  the  town  of  Forres,  and  the  choir  of  the  church  of  St. 
Lawrence,  and  the  manor  of  the  Archdeacon  within  the  town," 
and  also  "  the  whole  town  of  Elgin  and  the  church  of  St.  Egidius 
therein,  the  House  of  God  near  Elgin,  eighteen  noble  and  beautiful 
mansions  belonging  to  the  canons  and  chaplains,  and,  what  must 
be  more  bitterly  deplored,  the  noble  and  beautiful  church  of  Moray, 
the  mirror  of  our  native  country  and  the  honour  of  the  Kingdom, 
with  all  the  books,  charters,  and  other  valuable  things  of  the 
country  therein  kept  for  security."  For  these  ruthless  and 
sacrilegious  deeds  he  subsequently  did  penance  in  the  Blackfriars 
Church  of  Perth.  He  died  in  1394  without  lawful  issue. 

The  reign  of  Robert  the  Third  (1390  to  1406),  and  the  early 
part  of  the  reign  of  James  the  First,  form  a  sad  page  in  the  history 
of  Scotland.  The  first  years  of  Robert's  reign  were,  as  we  have 
seen,  disturbed  by  the  evil  deeds  of  his  brother,  the  Wolf  of 
Badenoch.  That  miscreant  was  worthily  succeeded  by  his  bastard 
son,  Duncan  Stewart — "  the  ferocious  son  of  a  fieixie  father," — who, 
sweeping  down  from  his  mountain  fastnesses,  for  a  time  kept  the 
Lowlands  in  terror;  while  the  Highlands,  and  particulai-ly  the 
districts  about  Inverness,  were  harrassed  by  the  Islemen  under 
Alexander, — the  Alasdair  Carrach  of  Gaelic  song  and  story.  In 
those  circumstances  Parliament,  in  1398,  placed  the  Castle  of 
Urquhart  "in  the  King's  hands,  who  shall  entrust  the  keeping  of  it 
to  worthy  captains,  until  the  Kingdom  be  pacified,  when  it  shall 
be  restored  to  its  owners."  But  the  pacification  anticipated 
by  the  Act  of  Parliament  which  I  have  quoted  was  far  dis- 
tant. South  of  the  Grampians  anarchy  and  confusion  increased  ; 
Highland  clans  waged  internecine  wars  in  the  North.  In  1411, 
Donald,  Lord  of  the  Isles,  renouncing  his  allegiance  to  the  Scottish 
king,  entered  upon  that  insurrection  the  great  event  of  which  was 


168  TRANSACTIONS. 

the  battle  of  Harlaw.  The  Island  chief  ultimately  surrendered  ; 
but  lawlessness  and  rapine  were  still  rampant  in  the-  Highlands, 
and  although  James  the  First  and  his  Parliament  visited  Inver- 
ness in  1427,  and  seized  about  forty  of  the  most  turbulent  chiefs, 
some  of  whom  were  put  to  death,  matters  were  not  much  mended, 
and  the  Castle  of  Urquhart  was  never  "  restored  to  its  owners." 
From  the  Rolls  of  the  Great  Chamberlain  of  Scotland,  we  find 
that  the  sum  of  40s  was  expended  on  the  fabric  of  the  Castle  in 
1428-29.  Subsequently  Thomas  Ogilvy  was  Captain  of  it  as  well 
as  of  the  Castle  of  Inverness,  and  the  Great  Chamberlain's  accounts 
for  1448-50  show  that  he  paid  £14  8s  to  William,  Thane  of  Caw- 
dor,  for  corn  for  the  garrisons. 

In  1451  the  great  Douglas  rebellion  broke  out  in  the  south. 
In  the  north  the  Earl  of  Ross  took  the  field  in  support  of  it,  and 
seized  the  royal  castles  of  Inverness,  Urquhart,  and  Ruthven  in 
Badenoch.  Ruthven  was  demolished  ;  Urquhart  was  committed 
to  the  charge  of  Sir  James  Livingstone,  Ross'  father-in-law,  who 
upon  the  first  news  of  the  northern  rising,  escaped  from  Court  to 
the  Highlands  ;  and  Inverness  was  supplied  with  military  stores 
and  strongly  garrisoned.  The  war  continued  until  1456,  when, 
after  the  defeat  of  the  Douglas  and  forfeiture  of  his  estates,  Ross 
submitted  to  the  king,  and  was  pardoned.  In  the  meantime  Par- 
liament, on  4th  August,  1455,  passed  an  Act  by  which,  "  foras- 
rnekill  as  the  povertie  of  the  Crowne  is  oftymis  the  caus  of  the 
povertie  of  the  realme  and  mony  other  inconvenients,"  the  Castle 
and  Barony  of  Urquhart  were  "  annext  to  the  Crowne  perpetually 
to  remane,  the  quhilk  may  not  be  gifiyn  away." 

Notwithstanding  the  prohibitory  terms  of  that  Act,  the  King, 
on  the  Earl  of  Ross's  submission,  granted  him  a  lease  of  the  Castle 
and  of  the  lands  of  Urquhart  and  Glenmoriston,  for  all  the  days 
of  his  (the  Earl's)  life,  at  a  rent  of  £50  Scots  a  year.  But  the 
Earl  was  ungrateful,  and  upon  the  King's  death  in  1460,  he  again, 
entered  upon  his  schemes  of  personal  aggrandizement,  and,  with  his 
kinsman  the  famous  Donald  Balloch,  and  the  Douglas,  entered 
into  a  treaty  with  Edward  the  Fourth  of  England,  with  a  view  to  the 
conquest  of  Scotland.  Ross's  army,  under  the  command  of  his  illegi- 
timate son  Angus,  and  Donald  Balloch,  became  masters  of  the  High- 
lands ;  and  from  Inverness  were  issued  proclamations  in  the  Earl's 
name  which  show  that  he  had  already  assumed  the  airs  of  a  King. 
But  his  rule  was  short-lived,  and  the  rebellion  expired.  The 
Crown  dealt  leniently  with  him,  and  he  was  permitted  to  retain 
his  estates  until  1475,  when,  the  treaty  between  Edward  the 


HISTORY   OF   GLEN   AND   CA3TLE    OF   URQUHART.  169 

Fourth  and  himself  having  come  to  light,  a  decree  of  forfeiture  was 
pronounced  against  him.  Next  year  he  made  a  humble  submis- 
sion to  the  King,  who  not  only  pardoned  him  but  also  restored  -to 
him  the  Earldom  of  Ross  and  the  lordship  of  the  Isles.  He  im- 
mediately resigned  the  Earldom,  and  it  thus  became  vested  in  the 
Crown. 

About  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century,  Charles  MacGillean, 
a  scion  of  the  house  of  Maclean,  a  follower  of  the  Lord  of  the  Isles, 
and  a  renowned  warrior,  settled  in  Glen  Urquhart,  possessed 
certain  lands  there,  and  was  Constable  of  the  Castle  about  the 
year  1398,  when,  as  we  have  seen,  it  was  annexed  to  the  Crown. 
From  him  sprang  the  Macleans  of  the  North,  (after  him  called 
Clann  Thearlaich)  and  the  family  of  Dochgarroch,  chiefs  of  that 
clan,  are  his  lineal  descendants.  By  his  wife,  a  daughter  of 
Gumming  of  Dalshangie,  he  had  a  son,  Hector  Buie  Maclean,  who 
succeeded  him.  In  Hector's  time,  and  for  centuries  thereafter, 
the  herds  of  cattle  reared  on  the  lich  pastures  of  Urquhart  and 
Glenrnoriston  were  an  irresistible  temptation  to  the  cattle  lifters 
of  Lochaber,  and  numerous  were  the  raids  made  by  the  Camerons 
and  the  Kennedies  (Clann  Mhic  Uaraig)  into  our  Glen,  and  deadly 
were  the  feuds  that  consequently  arose.  Hector  Buie  retaliated 
by  marching  a  band  of  Urquhart  men  into  Lochaber,  while 
Lochiel  happened  to  be  in  Ireland.  "  Donald,  Chief  of  the 
Camerons,"  says  the  old  historian  of  Lochiel,  with  reference  to  the 
invasion,  "  was  soon  recalled  from  Ireland  by  the  groans  of  the 
people,  who  were  cruelly  oppressed  and  plundered  by  a  robber 
from  the  North,  called  Hector  Bui  Maclean,  who,  with  a  party  of 
ruffians,  took  the  opportunity  of  his  absence  to  infest  the  country. 
Being  joined  by  a  siifficient  party  of  his  clan,  he  pursued  the 
robbers,  who  fled  before  the  news  of  his  arrival,  and  overtook 
them  at  the  head  of  Lochness.  But  Hector  with  his  prisoners,  for 
he  had  taken  many,  and  among  them  Samuel  Cameron  of  Glenevis, 
head  of  an  ancient  tribe  of  that  clan,  escaped  him  by  taking 
sanctuary  in  a  strong  house  called  Castle  Spiriten,  where  he 
barbarously  murdered  them.  In  revenge  of  their  death,  Donald 
caused  two  of  Hector's  sons,  with  others  of  the  gang  who  had 
fallen  into  his  hands,  to  be  hanged  in  view  of  the  father,  a  wretch 
so  excessively  savage  that  he  refused  to  deliver  them  by  way  of 
exchange  though  earnestly  pressed  to  do  so."  From  these  deeds 
of  blood,  and  the  consequent  belief  amongst  the  people  that  the 
spirits  of  the  murdered  haunted  the  Castle  of  Bona,  it  has  ever 
since  been  called  Caisteal  Spioradan. 


170  TRANSACTIONS. 

Hector  Buie  married  a  daughter  of  Malcolm  Mackintosh  of 
Mackintosh,  and  attached  himself  to  Clan  Chattan.  He  is  said 
to  have  been  killed  at  Castle  Spioradan,  arid  was  succeeded  by  his 
son  Ewen. 

After  the  forfeiture  of  the  Lord  of  the  Isles  (1475),  the  Earl  of 
Huntly,  acting  on  behalf  of  the  Crown,  let  the  lands  of  Urquhart 
and  Glenmoriston  on  lease  to  Hugh  Rose,  Baron  of  Kilravock. 
This  led  to  hostilities  between  Rose  and  Duncan  Mackintosh  of 
Mackintosh,  and  his  brothers  Allan  and  Lachlan,  who  desired 
either  to  have  the  lands  for  themselves,  or  to  sesure  the  interests 
of  their  relative,  Ewen  Maclean.  The  matter  in  dispute  was  at 
last  referred  to  the  judgment  of  six  "honourable  men,"  among 
whom  were  Duncan  Grant  of  Grant  and  his  son  John  •  and  upon 
26th  March,  1479,  the  arbiters  gave  their  award,  finding  that 
Rose  was  entitled  to  enjoy  the  peaceful  possession  of  the  lands  in 
question.  For  a  time  the  Mackintoshes  paid  no  respect  to  this 
decision,  but  on  25th  July,  1481,  the  chief  of  that  clan  and  his 
son  Farquhar  granted  their  bond  of  manrent  to  K  ilravock,  binding 
themselves  and  their  kin  to  respect  his  rights  "  under  the  panis  of 
inhabilite  perjure  and  infame."  Notwithstanding  the  terms  of 
this  bond  Ewen  Maclean  refused  to  submit,  and  on  23rd  Septem- 
ber 1481,  Farquhar  Mackintosh  granted  a  new  bond  to  Kilravock, 
binding  himself,  in  the  event  of  Ewen  continuing  his  resistance, 
"  to  take  lawful  part  with  the  said  baron,  his  barns  (children) 
and  party  aganis  the  said  Ewlne  and  his  party."  The  Micleans, 
thus  deserted  by  their  powerful  friends,  were  forced  to  submit : 
and  in  June  1482,  we  find  Rose  in  possession  of  Urquhart  and 
Glenmoriston,  and  Huntly  discharging  him  of  the  rents  thereof  in 
consideration  of  his  keeping  the  Castle  of  Redcastle  for  the  Earl, 
The  Macleans  subsequently  acquired  Dochgarroch,  a  property 
which  they  held  until  1832,  when  it  was  sold  to  Mr  Baillie  of 
Dochfour.  The  late  Mr  Allan  Maclean,  Drummond,  was  chief 
of  Clann  TJiearlaich,  and  since  his  death  in  1876,  the  family  is 
represented  by  his  nephew,  Mr  Allan  Maclean,  London. 

Balmacaan,  the  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Seafield,  is  in  the  charter  of 
1509  by  which  the  Grants  acquired  Urquhart,  as  well  as  in 
other  ancient  writings  which  I  have  seen,  written,  "  Balma- 
kauchane "  —  that  is,  the  town  of  the  son  of  Hector.  From 
this  it  would  appear  that  it  was  called  after  Ewen  Maclean, 
who,  as  we  have  seen,  was  the  son  of  Hector  Buie. 

The  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  the  opening  years  of  the 
sixteenth,  were  greatly  disturbed  by  the  insurrections  of  Alexander 


HISTORY   OP    GLEN   AND    CASTLE    OF   URQUHART.  171 

of  Lochalsh  and  Donald  Dubh  of  the  Isles.  Alexander,  followed 
by  a  large  Jbody  of  West  Highlanders,  and?  joined  by  Hugh  Rose 
younger  of  Kilravock  and  Farquhar  Mackintosh,  took  the  Castle 
of  Inverness,  and  probably  that  of  Urquhart,  and  devastated  the 
surrounding  country.  Huntly,  appointed  Lieutenant  of  the  North, 
was  commissioned  to  quell  those  disturbances.  A  long  war 
followed,  in  which  the  Grants  distinguished  themselves  by  their 
zeal  in  the  King's  cause,  and  to  them  was  entrusted  the  keeping 
of  the  Castle  and  barony  of  Urquhart,  in  room  of  the  Roses.  The 
men  of  Urquhart,  led  by  the  Clan  Mhic  Uian,  were  hostile  to  the 
Grants,  and  bloody  were  the  fights  between  the  opposing  parties, 
and  many  the  deeds  of  valour  performed  on  both  sides.  The 
traditions  of  the  Glen  regarding  this  period  are  still  interesting, 
and  even  at  the  present  time  there  are  men  who  pride  themselves 
on  their  descent  from  the  heroic  Glann  Mhic  Uian.*  But  the 
Grants  prevailed,  and  on  8th  December,  1509,  the  King  liberally 
rewarded  them  for  their  loyalty.  To  their  chief,  John  Grant  of 
Freuchie,  called  the  Bard  on  account  of  his  poetical  talents,  his 
Majesty  granted  a  charter  of  the  barony  of  Urquhart,  including 
the  Castle.  To  the  Bard's  second  son,  John  Og,  the  barony  of  Corri- 
mony  was  granted,  and  the  barony  of  Glenmoriston  was  given  to 
another  son,  also  named  John. 

These  charters,  which  made  the  family  of  Grant  absolute 
owners  of  the  whole  united  parish  of  Urquhart  and  Glenmoriston, 
with  the  exception  of  the  estate  of  Achmony,  close  the  period 
which  I  have  promised  to  sketch  to  you,  and  although  the  history 
and  traditions  of  the  Glen  for  the  next  two  centuries  and  a-half 
are  full  of  interest,  I  must  not  at  this  time  enter  upon  them, 
except  so  far  as  shortly  to  refer  tp  the  families  who  held  sway  in 
the  parish  from  that  remote  period  to  the  present  time. 

I  have  said  that  the  charters  of  1509  conveyed  to  the  family 
of  Grant  the  whole  parish,  with  the  exception  of  Achmony. 
That  estate,  including  Kilmichael,  belonged,  as  you  will  remem- 
ber, at  a  very  early  period,  to  the  Church.  Tn  1557,  the  Bishop, 
foreseeing  the  storms  of  the  Reformation,  sold  it  to  John  Mackay, 
who  already  possessed  it  under  a  nineteen  years'  lease  dated  the 
last  day  of  March,  1554.  The  charter,  which  is  dated  at  Elgin 
the  6th  day  of  May,  1557,  is  in  favour  of  Mackay  and  his  wife 

*  I  write  this  name  according  to  the  modern  pronunciation,  but  may  it 
not  originally  have  been  Claim  Mhic  Eogha'mn — the  clan  of  the  son  of 
Ewen,  that  is,  Ewen  Maclean  1 


172  TRANSACTIONS. 

Catherine,  Lady  Oarrycht,  (Catherinoe  Domince  Carrycht  ejus 
Sponsce)  in  liferent  and  to  their  son  Duncan  and  his  heirs  male  in 
fee.  John  Mackay  was  in  all  likelihood  a  descendant  of  one 
of  those  Mackays  who  remained  in  the  Glen  when  the  Chief  of 
the  clan  settled  in  the  North  about  the  year  1180,  and  who, 
according  to  the  ancient  Wardlaw  Manuscript  inhabited  Abriachan 
and  TJrquhart  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Of  what  family  his  lady 
was  T  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain.  Their  son  Duncan,  upon 
the  13th  day  of  May,  1592,  entered  into  a  marriage  contract  with 
Margaret  Chisholm,  daughter  of  The  Chisholm,  and  their  descen- 
dants, possessed  the  estate  until  1779,  when  it  was  sold  by 
Alexander  Mackay  with  consent  of  his  wife  Agnes,  a  daughter  of 
Macdonell  of  Glengarry,  to  Sir  James  Grant  of  Grant,  grandfather 
of  the  present  Earl  of  Seafield.  My  father,  who  is  old  enough  to 
remember  Agnes  Macdonell,  is  now  the  representative  of  the 
family,  as  well  as  the  only  man  of  the  name  of  Mackay  resident 
in  our  Glen,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  the  cradle  of  the  clan. 

The  other  families  of  position  in  the  parish  were  the  Grants  of 
Sheuglie  and  Lochletter,  and  the  Cummings  of  Dalshangie.  These 
possessed  their  lands  for  upwards  of  two  hunured  years  under 
wadsets  which  were  terminated  before  the  close  of  the  last  century. 
The  Grants  of  Sheuglie  had  considerable  influence,  and  one  of 
them,  Alexander,  led  the  Urquhart  men  on  the  side  of  Prince 
Charles,  in  the  Forty-five.  Taken  prisoner,  he  was  sent  to  England 
and  died  in  Tilbury  Fort.  He  was  a  good  bard,  and  an  excellent 
player  on  the  violin,  and  also,  it  is  said,  on  the  pipe  and  harp. 
From  him  was  descended  the  late  Colonel  Grant  of  Redcastle, 
father  of  Mr  Charles  Grant,  now  of  Hazel  Brae.  The  most  dis- 
tinguished members  of  the  family  of  Sheuglie,  which  is  now  repre- 
sented by  the  Rev.  Alister  Ronald  Grant,  Rector  of  Hikham, 
Suffolk,  were  Charles  Grant,  Chairman  of  the  East  India  Company 
(who  was  born  in  a  lowly  cottage  in  the  Glen  only  a  few  hours  be- 
fore his  father  was  killed  at  Culloden),  and  his  sons,  Lord  Glenelg 
and  Sir  Robert  Grant,  Governor  of  Bombay. 

The  last  of  the  Grants  of  Corrimony  who  possessed  that  estate 
was  that  genuine  Highlander,  James  Grant,  advocate,  who  died  in 
1835,  at  the  patriarchal  age  of  ninety-two.  His  learned  and 
exhaustive  works  on  the  origin  and  descent  of  the  Gael,  on 
Ossian,  and  on  the  Origin  of  Society  and  Government,  are,  I  hope, 
known  to  you  all.  The  family  is  now  represented  by  Dr  Grant  of 
Montreal,  while  the  estate  is  divided  between  Mr  Ogilvy  of  Cor- 
rimony and  Dr  Cameron  of  Lakefield. 


HISTORY   OF   GLEN   AND   CASTLE    OP   URQUHART.  173 

The  Grants  of  Urquhart  (now  the  noble  family  of  Seafield)  and 
the  Grants  of  Glenmoriston  still  possess  their  ancient  patrimonies, 
and  distant  be  the  day  when  the  stranger  will  take  their  place. 
We  all  regret  the  circumstances  which  have  made  so  many  of  our 
old  Highland  families  alien  to  the  land  which  once  knew  them 
so  well ;  and  we  desii'e  to  see  such  of  them  as  are  still  left  to  us 
continue  chiefs  of  their  clans  as  in  the  olden  time — not  now,  in- 
deed, to  lead  them  in  battle  against  the  inhabitants  of  some 
neighbouring  glen,  but  to  go  before  them  and  lend  them  a  helping 
hand  in  the  arts  of  peace,  and,  by  a  proper  use  of  the  influence  of 
their  position  and  of  the  old  feelings  of  clanship  which  still  exist, 
to  encourage  them  to  become  better  and  more  useful  people,  and 
to  strive  to  attain  the  highest  possible  measure  of  happiness  and 
prosperity. 

P.S. — Should  any  who  may  happen  to  read  the  foregoing  sketch 
possess  information,  however  insignificant,  regarding  the  history  or 
traditions  of  Urquhart  and  Glenmoriston,  or  of  the  Castle,  I  shall 
deem  it  a  great  favour  if  they  will  kindly  communicate  the  same 
to  me. 

W.  M. 
STH  APRIL,  1877. 

At  the  meeting  of  this  date,  Mr  Archibald  Sinclair,  Printer 
and  Publisher,  62  Argyle  Street,  Glasgow,  was  elected  an. ordinary 
member.  It  was  agreed  to  appoint  a  committee  to  collect  subscrip- 
tions, from  the  Members  of  the  Society,  towards  the  funds  of  the 
Memorial  to  John  Mackenzie  of  the  "  Beauties  of  Gaelic  Poetry." 
Mr  John  Whyte  read  a  paper  in  Gaelic,  entitled,  "  An  Gaidheal 
anns  a'  Bhaile,"  which  he  declines  to  publish. 


174  TRANSACTIONS, 

19ra  APRIL,  1877. 

At  thi?  meeting,  Mr  Geoi'ge  Macbean,  writer,  42  Union  Street, 
was  elected  an  ordinary  member ;  and  after  some  routine  business 
had  been  transacted,  Mr  Colin  Chisholm,  Namur  Cottage,  Inver- 
ness, (late  President  of  the  Gaelic  Society  of  London)  read  the 
following  paper,  entitled — 

THE  CLEARANCE  OF  THE  HIGHLAND  GLENS. 

After  forty  years  absence  from  this  part  of  the  country  I  shall 
state  the  opinions  that  I  now  entertain  of  matters  in  the  High- 
lands. I  shall  as  briefly  as  possible  place  before  you  the  impres- 
sions on  my  mind  with  regard  to  the  most  prominent  changes  in 
the  Highlands  during  this  long  interval. 

In  the  first  place  I  feel  bound  to  express  my  sincere  pleasure  at 
the  sight  of  the  noble  efforts  of  the  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness  to 
rescue  our  ancient  and  venerable  language  from  decay  and  disso- 
lution. Professor  Geddes  of  Aberdeen  says  that  "  it  can  boast  a 
pedigree  better  far  than  that  spoken  in  the  highest  places  in  the 
land,  and  can  claim  the  start  of  English  on  the  soil  of  Britain  by 
ten  centuries,  and  that  in  a  literary  form."  Professor  Morley,  of 
London,  states  that  "  a  man  cannot  be  a  thorough  English  scholar 
without  a  knowledge  of  Celtic";  and  Professor  Allison,  of  Glasgow, 
said  "  that  the  man  who  speaks  two  languages  is  equal  to  two  men, 
and  advances  in  usefulness  at  the  same  ratio  for  every  language 
he  speaks."  It  augurs  well  for  the  development  and  success  of 
your  Society  that  the  Provost,  the  Chief  Magistrates,  and  Town 
Councillors  of  Inverness  have  opened  the  Town  Hall  of  the  largest 
county  in  Scotland  for  your  deliberations.  All  thanks  to  them 
for  it,  and  for  their  friendly  appearance  among  us  at  our  principal 
meetings. 

It  is  a  source  of  pleasure  for  me  to  state  without  favour  or 
prejudice  that  this  town  of  Inverness  has  improved  in  every 
imaginable  respect  during  the  forty  years  alluded  to.  In  sanitary 
respects  the  town  is  unquestionably  500  per  cent,  better  than  it 
was  in  my  early  recollection.  In  well-designed  and  stately  houses 
there  are  portions  of  Inverness  that  will  compare  favourably  with, 
if  not  surpass,  equal  lengths  of  London  streets  and  London  shops. 
Large  and  spacious  hotels  with  every  accommodation,  comfort  and 
civility  ;  an  abundant  meat,  vegetable,  and  fish  market ;  suburban 


THE  CLEARANCE  OF  THE  HIGHLAND  GLENS.         1 75 

villas,  and  every  fanciful  architecture.  Add  to  this  the  daily 
arrival  and  departure  of  railway  trains  to  and  from  every  part  of 
the  Kingdom,  aswellasthe  steamboats  plying  both  by  salt  and  fresh 
water.  Old  nature  seems  to  have  designed  the  town  and  environs  of 
Inverness  as  the  Madeira  of  Scotland,  but  it  remained  for  the 
scientific  acumen  of  our  friend  Mr  Murdoch  to  demonstrate  the 
salubrity  of  the  town  ;  and  it  is  satisfactory  to  note  that  his  laboui^s 
on  this  score  stand  unanswered  and  unchallenged.  My  house 
being  on  a  rising  ground  above  the  town  where,  according  to  tra- 
dition, the  Cross  or  centre  of  Old  Inverness  stood,  I  can  see  from 
my  windows  for  many  miles,  and  it  is'  most  gratifying  to  sea  tho 
surrounding  country  studded  with  small  but  substantial  stone  and 
slated  houses  and  offices  to  coi-respond  with  the  moderate  size  of 
the  farms  on  which  they  are  built.  All  honour  to  the  proprietors 
of  these  estates.  They  belong  principally  to  the  Baillies  of  Doch- 
four,  Leys,  and  Redcastle. 

Let  us  now  leave  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Inverness 
and  wend  our  way  North,  South,  East  or  West,  and  what  do  we 
see  on  all  sides?  Large  farms  infested  with  game  and  burrowed 
like  honey-comb  by  rabbits.  If  we  extend  our  walk  to  the 
Glens,  we  find  them  thoroughly  cleared — the  native  population 
sent  to  the  four  quarU'rs  of  the  globe,  wild  beasts,  wild  birds,  and 
game  of  eveiy  description  in  quiet  p-ssession  and  feeding  among 
the  crumbled  walls  of  houses  where  we  have  seen  happy  families 
of  stalwart  Highlanders  reared  and  educated  !  This  is  no  exaggera- 
tion. During  the  last  twelve  months  I  travelled  through  the 
counties  of  Inverness,  Ross,  (Jromarty,  Sutherland,  Moray,  Banff, 
Perth  and  Argyle  ;  and  I  can  bear  testimony  to  the  general  de- 
ptessionand  desolation  caused  throughout  the  Highlands,  I  maintain, 
by  the  operation  of  the  iniquitous  Class  Laws  called  Game  Laws. 
They  are  like  the  Upas  Tree,  withering  all  within  their  \inhallowed 
atmosphere,  sending  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  Highlands  to 
foreign  lands.  They  tin-n  large  tracts  of  country  into  cheerless  and 
inhospitable  deserts.  They  sever  the  proverbial  and  ancient  bond 
of  union  and  attachment  between  chief  and  clansman.  Tlie  chief 
is  distrusted  frequently  for.  his  acts,  communicated  through  his 
factor,  and  the  clansman  is  thereby  disheartened..  Thus  another 
town-land  or  perhaps  a  whole  Glen  is  laid  waste  and  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  wild  beasis.  The  work  of  destruction  and  depopulation 
in  the  Highlands  has  gone  on  so  regularly  for  nearly  a  hundred 
years,  and  especially  during  the  last  fifty  years,  that  the  few  farmers 
left  on  the  Lowlands  have  a  difficulty  in  finding  servants  and 


176  TRANSACTIONS. 

labourers  to  work  their  farms.  Every  part  of  the  Highlands 
through  which  I  have  passed  seemed  to  be  much  in  the  same  way 
— the  surface  of  the  land,  as  it  were,  in  sombre  mourning  covered 
with  heather  lamenting  the  absence  of  the  strong  arm  that  used  to 
till  and  ought  to  reclaim  it,  to  enable  it  to  fulfil  the  purposes  for 
which  land  was  given  to  man,  viz.,  to  make  it  support  the  greatest 
possible  number  of  human  beings  in  the  greatest  possible  degree  of 
comfort  and  happiness.  The  law  that  enables  one  man  to  say 
to  another  ;  "I  will  not  cultivate  one  acre,  and  I  will  not 
allow  you  to  do  so,"  is  most  unnatural  and  most  iniquitous  in  its 
results. 

It  is  most  satisfactory  to  know,  I  think,  that  the  British  Govern- 
ment has  ignored  freedom  of  contract  between  landlord  and  tenant 
in  Ireland  by  the  Ulster  Tenant  Right  and  the  Irish  Land  Bill  of 
1870.  Since  the  Bill  of  1870  was  passed  into  law  the  landlord 
in  Ireland  is  not  the  judge  between  his  tenants  and  himself.  It 
is  the  Chairman  of  Quarter  Sessions,  a  Government  Officer,  in- 
dependent of  both  landlord  and  tenant,  who  must  decide  whether 
the  rent  demanded  is  excessive  or  not.  There  may  be  legal 
quibbles  still  in  the  way  of  amicable  settlements  between  landlord 
and  tenant  in  Ireland;  but  the  Land  Bill  of  1870  (which  I  read 
over  and  over  again)  seems  to  me  to  bear  this  construction.  It  is 
not  long  since  a  tenant  farmer  got  £700  damages  from  his  land- 
lord in  Ireland  for  raising  his  rent  and  thereby  compelling  him  to 
leave  the  farm.  At  this  moment  English  good  sense  stands  like  a 
bulwark  between  the  landlord  and  cultivator  of  the  soil  in  Ireland. 
Landlords,  factors,  and  leases  are  no  longer  supreme  in  Ireland. 
The  Chairman  of  Quarter  Sessions  is  arbitrator  from  this  time 
forward.  England  abolishes  landlordism  in  Ireland  by  advancing 
money  through  the  Board  of  Works  to  every  honest  tenant  who 
has  ambition  to  purchase  his  farm  in  fee  simple  from  his  landlord. 
The  repurchase  system  has  made  rapid  progress  in  some  of  the  Conti- 
nental kingdoms  of  Europe.  Notably  in  Prussia.  From  the  day 
that  Napolean  I.  crossed  the  Rhine  the  Government  of  Prussia 
looked  with  sorrow  and  astonishment  at  the  number  of  young 
Germans  who  flocked  around  Napoleon's  standard.  They  soon 
discovered  that  these  men  were  flying  from  landlord  tyranny. 
Having  discovered  the  cause,  they  applied  the  remedy;  they  valued 
every  farm  on  large  estates  throughout  Prussia ;  enacted  laws  to 
enable  tenants  in  possession  to  purchase  their  farms,  and  on 
certain  conditions  advanced  money  to  enable  the  farmer  to  pay 
for  his  land.  In  Austria  they  have  a  re-purchase  system  also. 


THE  CLEARANCE  OF  THE  HIGHLAND  GLENS.        177 

They  have  a  land  system  of  their  own  in  France  since  1789,  one 
feature  of  which  (I  think)  is,  that  no  man  can  derive  more  than. 
.£5000  per  annum  from  land  in  France.  Large  lauded  estates 
have  often  beeu  the  cause  o  f  revolutions  and  bloodshed. 

Macaulay,  in  his  review  of  Mitford's  History  of  Greece,  justly 
says — "  In  Rome  the  oligarchy  was  too  powerful  to  be  subverted 
by  force,  and  neither  the  tribunes  nor  the  popular  assemblies, 
though  constitutionally  omnipotent,  could  maintain  a  successful 
contest  against  men  who  possessed  the  whole  property  of  the 
State.  Hence  the  necessity  for  measures  tending  to  unsettle 
the  whole  frame  of  Society  and  to  take  away  every  motive  of 
industry  —  the  abolition  of  debts  and  the  agrarian  laws  —  pro- 
positions absurdly  condemned  by  men  who  do  not  consider 
the  circumstances  from  which  they  spring.  They  weie  the  des- 
perate remedies  of  a  desperate  disease.  In  Greece  the  oligarchical 
interest  was  not  in  general  so  deeply  rooted  as  in  Rome.  The 
multitude,  therefore,  redressed  by  force  grievances  which  at  Rome 
were  commonly  attacked  under  the  form  of  the  Constitution. 
They  drove  out  or  massacred  the  rich  and  divided  their  property." 
This  is  ancient  history,  but  the  French  Revolution  of  1789  is 
modern.  Thus  we  see  in  ancient  and  modern  history,  that  the 
land  was  the  bone  of  contention.  The  first  grand  error  of  Britons 
was  selling  what  did  not  belong  to  us.  That  which  is  on  the  land 
belongs  to  man,  because  he  made  it,  or  helped  to  rear  it,  but  the 
land  itself,  belongs  to  no  man,  and  no  generation  of  men  because 
they  did  not  make  it.  The  law  of  England,  interpreted  by  the 
ablest,  expressly  declares  that  man  can  only  hold  an  estate  in  land. 
The  modern  theory  of  a  general  commerce  in  land  was  unknown  in 
England,  till  the  demise  of  the  Stuart  dynasty.  More  than  one 
half  of  some  English  counties  was  held  in  common.  On  the  lowest 
computation,  says  a  report  of  the  Commons  Preservation  Society, 
"  5,000,000  acres  of  common  land  have  been  enclosed  since  the 
reign  of  Queen  Anne."  It  is  not  easy  in  the  various  and  conflict- 
ing statements  set  forth  occasionally  to  estimate  the  amount  of 
land  still  unenclosed  and  subject  to  common  rights  in  England  and 
Wales.  I  have  seen  it  put  as  low  as  2,600,000  acres.  On  the 
other  hand  it  is  stated  that  so  recently  as  the  reign  of  George  III., 
eight  million  acres  of  commonage  still  remained.  There  was  no 
pauperism  under  such  a  system.  Milk,  butter,  cheese,  bacon, 
poultry  and  some  sheep  were  within  the  reach  of  all.  There  was 
no  absolute  ownership  of  land  either  by  great  or  small,  but  there 
was  fixity  of  tenure  during  good  behaviour  to  all. 


178  TRANSACTIONS. 

The  King  or  Queen,  as  representing  the  public,  exercised  strict, 
just,  and  impartial  control.  We  are  no  more  than  trustees  for  our 
successors.  But  we  have  divested  ourselves  of  the  power  of  com- 
pelling any  man  to  cultivate  an  acre.  Yet  history  tells  us  that 
this  want  of  cultivation  has  on  several  occasions  been  very  nearly 
the  downfall  of  England. 

In  the  face  of  all  former  experience,  it  is  melancholy  to  see  our 
landed  proprietors  through  the  Highlands  encouraging  a  system 
among  us  that  would  not  be  tolerated  in  England.  The  noblemen 
and  capitalists  who  come  among  us  from  England  to  elbow  out 
of  house  and  home  our  native  population  know  too  well  that  it 
would  be  not  only  impolitic  but  most  dangerous  to  try  such  ex- 
periments on  their  own  countrymen. 

Forty  years'  residence  in  England  convince  me  that  the  free, 
brave,  independent,  and  justice-loving  people  of  England  would  not 
tolerate  or  brook  oppression  from  any  man  or  from  any  class  of 
men.  Instance — how  quickly  the  voice  and  press  of  England 
brought  the  Earl  of  Darnley  to  his  knees  when  he  attempted  to 
dispossess  one  of  his  tenants  near  Gravesend  some  three  or  four 
years  ago.  It  may  be  urged  that  the  Dukes  and  nobles,  capitalists 
and  sportsmen  who  come  among  the  ruins  of  farms  and  villages 
in  the  North  had  no  hand  in  clearing  the  people  out  of  the  way 
of  sheep,  deer,  and  game.  Be  that  as  it  may,  they  are  in  posses- 
sion, and  it  was  in  anticipation  of  such  unscrupulous  tenants  that 
the  people  were  driven  out  and  deprived  of  farms,  houses  and 
homes.  In  such  cases  as  these  the  strong  arm  of  the  law  ought 
to  interpose  between  enormous  wealth  and  honest  industry. 

To  prevent  you  from  thinking  that  I  am  dealing  in  generalities 
only,  just  imagine  that  such  men  as  the  Duke  of  Westminster 
and  the  Duke  of  Portland  come  from  England  annuallv  to  imitate 
our  Highland  Duke  of  Athole  and  Northern  Duke  of  Sutherland, 
in  increasing  their  stock  of  deer  and  extending  the  size  of  the 
Ducal  Forests.  I  ask  what  chance  would  the  cultivator  of  the 
soil  have  in  the  same  atmosphere  with  the  Ducal  Deer  1  One 
would  think  that  some,  if  not  all,  of  these  forests  were  extensive 
enough.  Let  us  hear  what  Thomas  Graham  Murray,  Esq.,  said  of 
the  Forest  of  Athole  while  he  was  under  examination  by  a  com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Commons  on  the  26th  July,  1872.  In 
answer  to  a  question,  Mr  Murray  said,  "  you  will  find  that  in  Mr 
Scrope's  book  he  gives  a  calculation  of  the  number  of  acres.  His 
book  was  written  in  the  time  of  Duke  John,  about  the  year  1828 
or  1829,  and  he  makes  the  whole  forest  135,000  acres  ;  but  of  that 


THE  CLEARANCE  OF  THE  HIGHLAND  GLENS.        179 

51,000  acres  were  then  under  deer,  the  rest  being  grouse  ground. 
And  you  will  observe  that  it  is  just  about  the  quantity  that  it  is 
now.  I  do  not  think  there  has  been  any  change  scarcely  since 
that  time."  Further  on  in  his  evidence  Mr  Murray,  speaking  of  the 
Athole  Forest,  says:  — "  It  has  been  a  forest  from  time  immemorial." 
Mr  Murray  is  one  of  the  first,  and  probably  one  of  the  most 
honourable  lawyers  in  the  kingdom.  He  tells  us  the  extent  of 
Athole  Forest,  but  cannot  tell  us  how  long  that  enormous  amount 
of  land  has  been  lost  to  the  community. 

Ordinary  mortals  might  think  this  extent  of  forest,  with  its 
"  five  to  seven  thousand  deer  as  estimated  by  Mr  Sciope,"  ought 
to  satisfy  the  slaughtering  propensities  even  of  a  Duke.  But 
nothing  of  the  sort.  Last  year  his  Grace  of  Athole  added  about 
10,000  acres  to  his  old  deer  forest.  The  lands  cleared  for  that 
purpose  are  Glenmore  and  Glenbeg,  with  the  Glen  of  Cromalt  and 
the  different  smaller  glens  and  corries  that  branch  off  from  the 
above  mentioned  glens. 

Be  it  remembered,  however,  that  all  this  misappropriation  of 
land  is  perfectly  legal  and  legitimate  according  to  the  present 
usages  of  Society.  Nay,  more,  if  the  four  noblemen  alluded  to,  or 
any  other  capitalists,  had  the  means  and  the  chance  of  purchasing 
every  inch  of  land  (perhaps  boroughs  excepted)  in  the  Highlands 
of  Scotland,  convert  it  into  Deer  Forests  and  turn  the  present 
remnant  of  the  Highlanders  out  of  house  and  home,  they  would 
be  quite  within  the  pale  of  the  law  as  interpreted  by  Society  in 
modern  times.  We  see  this  principle  acted  on  year  by  year,  and 
it  is  against  this  irresponsible  power  that  every  well-wisher  of 
justice  ought  to  appeal.  It  appears  to  me  that  some  of  our  Mem- 
bers who  are  learned  in  the  law  might  tell  us  whether  the  original 
Charters  of  our  landed  proprietors  justify  them  in  substituting  wild 
beasts  for  human  beings  1  If  the  Charters  empower  landlords  to 
destroy  the  people,  by  depriving  them  of  their  birth-light,  the  land 
on  which  they  were  born,  they  are  quite  at  variance  with  recent 
legislation,  in  as  much  as  the  pauper  has  now  a  life  interest  in  the 
land  of  his  birth.  Yes,  the  proprietors  and  the  paupers  are  the 
only  two  classes  of  the  community  who  have  any  hold  of  the  land 
of  this  country.  There  is  not  a  man  in  Europe  so  completely 
divorced  from  the  land  of  his  birth  as  the  Highlander  of  Scotland. 

Now,  lest  you  should  imagine  that  I  content  myself  with 
making  statements  and  then  conveniently  forgetting  to  prove 
them,  let  me  briefly  revert  to  the  time  and  circumstances  which 
inaugurated  the  unhallowed  system  of  depopulation  in  Inverness- 

L2 


180  TRANSACTIONS. 

shire.  As  to  the  time,  I  have  heard  Edward  Ellice,  Esq.,  of  Glen- 
Cuaich,  stating  before  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  on 
the  28th  March,  1873,  that  "  the  great  depopulation  was  in  1780 
and  1790,  when  the  Colony  of  Glengarry  was  founded  in  Canada, 
by  the  number  of  people  that  were  sent  out  from  Scotland  to 
obtain  their  low  lying  crofts  for  the  sheep  in  the  winter."  Fur- 
ther on  in  his  evidence,  Mr  Ellice,  in  answer  to  a  question,  says, 
"  Yes  ;  I  may  mention  one  single  case  that  I  am  well  acquainted 
with.  When  the  depopulation  began  in  1780,  the  people  were 
then  cleared  off  to  make  way  for  sheep.  They  had  turned  out 
700  to  800  fighting  men  in  the  Rebellion,  consequently  the 
population  could  not  have  been  under  5000  or  6000."  It  seems  to 
me  that  Mr  Ellice  has  Glengarry  in  his  mind's  eye.  If  I  am  right 
in  this  supposition,  it  appears  to  be  one  of  the  severest  reflections 
ever  made  on  the  depopulation  of  Glengarry.  For  every  pound  ster- 
ling of  the  rental  of  the  particular  estate  a  fighting  man  was  sent  from 
that  estate,  to  support  the  cause  of  the  Prince  whom  they  believed 
to  be  their  lawful  Sovereign.  Imagine  that  Britain  might  be  threa- 
tened in  these  times  either  by  Turk  or  Christian,  how  many 
fighting  men  would  the  estate  alluded  to  be  able  to  send  to  the 
service  of  our  Sovereign  ]  I  venture  to  say  that  it  could  not  raise 
50  men.  Nay,  if  you  keep  clear  of  the  village  of  Fort- Augustus, 
which  is  Lord  Lovat's  property,  I  do  not  think  that  even  20  men 
could  be  sent  out  of  Glengarry  with  all  its  sheep  and  deer.  Not 
that  the  men  are  less  patriotic  now  than  they  were  in  1745,  but  for 
this  simple  reason,  there  are  reither  M'Donnells  nor  any  other  men 
in  Glengarry.  In  justice  to  Mr  Ellice,  I  must  say,  however,  that 
he  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  most  humane  and  most  favourable  to 
Highlanders  of  all  the  Members  of  Parliament  that  gave  evidence 
at  the  committee  alluded  to.  During  the  two  days  he  was  under 
examination,  not  a  word  escaped  his  lips  that  could  be  construed 
into  slight  or  disrespect  for  Highlanders.  It  is  quite  true  that 
Mr  Ellice  spoke  of  them  as  "  Crofters."  This  was  the  lingo  in 
which  Highlanders  were  generally  spoken  of  at  the  Game  Law 
Committee.  But  the  Earl  of  Chatham  dignified  them  on  a  former 
occasion  with  the  name  of  "  Mountaineers."  Speaking  of  them 
with  great  respect  in  Parliament  soon  after  the  mis-managed  affair 
of  1 745,  his  Lordship  said  in  effect : — That  the  Mountaineers  had 
well  nigh  changed  the  dynasty  and  upset  the  constitution  of  the 
Kingdom. 

Now  as  to  the  circumstances  that  inaugurated  the  depopulation 
alluded  to.     They  are  simple  but  melancholy,  and  they  occurred  as 


THE  CLEARANCE  OF  THE  HIGHLAND  GLENS.        181 

follows : — Marsalaidh  JBhinneach,  the  mother  of  the  last  popular 
"  Glengarry,"  had  the  management  of  the  whole  properties  of 
Cnoideart  and  Glengarry,  while  her  son  was  a  minor.  The  fasci- 
nating demon  of  old  unfolded  its  golden  coils  before  her  avaricious 
mind ;  and  in  an  evil  Lour  she  surrendered  the  birthright  of  her 
husband's  clansmen  to  his  crafty  wiles.  To  begin  with,  she  gave 
Glen  Cuaich  to  one  unscrupulous  south  country  shepherd,  and 
thereby  deprived  over  500  persons  of  houses  and  home.  This  was 
the  beginning  only  of  a  series  of  misfortunes  which  laid  the 
foundations  of  complications  and  embarrassments  that  ended  in  the 
sale  of  the  whole  of  the  Glengarry  estates.  I  forbear  to  mention 
the  maiden  name  of  this  woman  on  account  of  the  esteem  in  which 
her  noble  chief  is  held.  It  is  said  that  he  is  by  far  the  best  land- 
lord in  the  Highlands.  However,  The  Chisholm  of  Strathglass 
married  her  eldest  daughter  Eliza  in  1795. 

The  Chisholin  was  rather  delicate  and  often  in  bad  health,  and 
this  threw  the  management  of  the  estate  into  the  hands  of  his  wife. 
Hence  the  cause  of  the  great  clearance  of  Strathglass  in  1801. 
The  evicted  people  from  that  strath  crossed  the  Atlantic  and 
settled  principally  in  Nova  Scotia  and  Cape  Breton  Island.  They 
gave  the  names  of  some  Strathglass  farms  to  their  freehold  lands 
in  their  adopted  country.  In  the  Island  there  is  even  the  county 
of  Inverness. 

In  1810  an  heir  was  born  for  The  Chisholm.  He  succeeded  to 
the  most  of  the  estates  on  the  death  of  his  father  in  1817.  I  say 
the  most,  because  a  poi'tion  of  the  land  was  still  in  the  hands  of 
his  uncle's  widow.  It  will  be  necessary  here  to  explain  this 
reserve  on  entailed  land  : — 

Alexander^  the  eldest  surviving  son  of  the  The  Chisholm  who 
entailed  the  estates  in  1777,  married  Elizabeth,  datighter  of  Dr 
Wilson  of  Edinburgh.  He  died  on  the  17th  February,  1793,  aged 
forty-four  years,  and  left  an  only  child,  Mary,  who  married  James 
Gooden,  Esq.,  merchant,  of  London.  The  estates  reverted  to  his 
half-brother  William,  who  died  in  1817,as  stated  above.  The  widow 
alluded  to  was  Dr  Wilson's  daughter.  Alexander  The  Chisholm, 
her  husband,  made  a  fair  settlement  in  case  of  widowhood.  He 
left  for  her,  the  option  of  a  certain  sum  of  money  annually  or 
the  rental  accruing  from  a  number  of  towiilands  or  joint  farms. 
Through  the  advice  of  her  only  child  Mary,  Mrs  Chisholm  made 
choice  of  the  townlands  and  kept  them  intact,  and  kept  the 
tenantry  on  these  farms  in  easy  circumstances  until  the  day  of  her 
death,  which  took  place  on  the  23rd  January,  1826,  and  then  the 


182  TRANSACTIONS. 

whole   of  The  Chisholm's  estates  reverted  to  the  young  heir  of 
Strathglass. 

By  and  bye,  I  "will  tell  you  how  the  tenantry  were  treated  by 
ths  young  Chief  and  his  advisers.  But  I  feel  bound  to  tell  you 
first,  that  repeated  efforts  were  made  by  some  of  those  who  were 
acting  for  the  Chief  to  get  hold  of  the  land  still  in  possession  of  the 
widow.  However,  the  great  good  sense  of  this  noble-minded 
Edinburgh  lady,  and  the  sincere  attachment  of  her  daughter,  Mrs 
Gooden,  to  her  father's  tenantry  stood  firm  against  all  the  ad- 
vances made  to  deprive  her  of  the  faithful  Highland  tenantry  en- 
trusted to  her  care. 

For  the  long  space  of  thirty-three  years  she  kept  her  tenantry 
intact,  never  turned  one  of  them  out  of  a  farm,  nor  did  she  ever 
deprive  any  man  of  an  acre  of  land.  As  The  Chisholm,  her  hus- 
band, left  them  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1793,  so  they  were  left 
by  his  beloved  widow  at  the  time  of  her  death  in  1826.  This 
excellent  lady  was  well  known  and  distinguished  in  the  Highlands 
by  the  endearing  term  of  "  A  Bhantigheama-Bhan  " — the  English 
equivalent  of  which  is  "  the  fair  lady." 

When  Mary  (afterwards  Mrs  Gooden)  was  a  young  lassie  in 
her  teens,  four  south  countrymen  (Gillespie  of  Glen  Cuaich,  I 
think,  was  one  of  the  number)  came  to  see  The  Chisholm  and 
passed  the  night  with  him  at  Comar,  where  the  Chief  was  staying 
at  that  time.  In  the  course  of  the  evening  it  transpired  that  the 
Southerns  wanted  the  most  and  best  portions  of  Strathglass  as 
sheep  walks.  In  short,  the  object  of  their  mission  was  to  treat 
the  Chisholms  of  Strathglass  as  the  Macdonnells  of  Glengarry  were 
treated  a  few  years  before  that  time. 

Mary  listened  for  a  time  quietly  to  their  proposals  ;  at  last  she 
mildly  put  her  veto  on  the  whole  transaction.  She  was  ordered 
off  to  her  room.  But,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  Mary  found  her  way 
to  the  kitchen,  and  called  all  the  servants  around  her  and  explained 
to  them  the  cause  of  her  grief. 

Never  was  Grann-Tara  sent  through  any  district  with  more 
rapidity  than  this  unwelcome  news  spread  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  Strathglass.  Early  next  morning  there  were  about  a 
thousand  men,  including  young  and  old,  assembled  on  the  ground  at 
Comar  House.  They  demanded  an  interview  with  The  Chisholm. 
He  came  out  among  them  and  discussed  the  impropriety  of  alarm- 
ing his  guests.  But  the  Chief  was  told  that  the  guests  were 
infinitely  worse  than  the  freebooters  who  came  on  a  former 
occasion  with  sword  in  hand  to  rob  his  forefathers  of  their 


THE  CLEARANCE  OF  THE  HIGHLAND  GLENS.        183 

patrimony,  etc.  [This  was  an  allusion  to  a  sanguinary  battle 
fought  on  the  plain  of  Aridh-dhuiean  many  years  before  that  time 
between  Clann-'ic-an-Lonathaich,  who  wanted  to  take  possession, 
and  the  Chisholms,  who  succeeded  in  keeping  possession  of  Strath- 
glass  to  this  day.]  The  guests  were  at  first  anxiously  listening,  at 
the  drawing-room  windows,  to  the  arguments  between  the  Chief 
and  his  clansmen ;  but  they  soon  got  quietly  down  stairs  and 
made  the  best  of  their  way,  (I  think  through  the  back  door  and 
garden)  to  the  stable  where  they  mounted  their  horses,  galloped 
off  helter-skelter,  followed  by  the  shouts  and  derision  of  the  as- 
sembled tenantry,  across  the  river  Glass,  spurring  their  horses  and 
never  looking  behind  until  they  reached  the  ridge  of  Maoil  Bhuidhe, 
a  hill  between  Strathglass  and  Corriemon/.  Imagine  their  chagrin 
on  turning  round  and  seeing  a  procession  being  formed  at  Comar 
— pipers  playing,  and  The  Chisholm  being  carried  to  Invercannich 
House  on  the  brawny  shoulders  of  his  tenantry. 

Instead  of  this  being  cause  of  sorrow,  it  was  the  happiest  day 
that  ever  dawned,  on  Strathglass  ;  Chief  and  Clansmen  expressing 
mutual  confidence  in  each  other,  and  renewing  every  manner  of 
ancient  and  modern  bond  of  fealty  ever  entered  into  by  their 
forebears.  All  this  extraordinary  episode  in  the  history  of  Strath- 
glass I  heard  related  over  and  over  again  ~by  some  of  the  men 
who  took  their  part  in  chasing  the  Southrons  out  of  that  district. 

About  thirty  years  ago,  I  reminded  Mrs  Gooden,  in  London, 
of  what  was  said  of  her  in  the  North,  in  connection  with  the  hasty 
exit  of  the  would-be  shepherds,  every  word  of  which  I  found  to  be 
substantially  correct,  and  Mrs  Gooden  then  added  : — "  When 
my  father  died  in  1793, 1  felt  that  the  welfare  of  the  tenantry  left 
in  charge  of  my  mother  depended  in  a  great  measure  on  myself. 
I  was  brought  up  among  them,  I  used  to  be  the  Gaelic  interpreter 
between  them  and  my  mother,  and  they  had  great  confidence  in  me. 
However,  it  was  in  after  years,  when  old  age  began  to  impair 
my  mother's  memory,  that  I  had  the  greatest  anxiety  least  the 
agents*  of  The  Chisholm  should  succeed  in  depriving  her  of  the 
tenantry.  I  had  two  objects  in  view.  The  first  was  to  keep  the 
people  comfortable,  and  the  second  was  to  hand  them  over  as  an 
able  class  of  tenantry  to  my  first  cousin,  the  young  Chisholm,  at 
the  demise  of  my  mother." 

This  determination  was  so  well  arranged  and  so    completely 

*One  of  these  was  Wm.  Mackenzie,  W.S.,  Edinburgh— a  Ross-shire 
man. 


184  TRANSACTIONS. 

carried  out,  that  when  the  Dowager  Mrs  Chisholm,  of  whom  I 
have  spoken  as  "  the  fair  lady"  died,  the  tenantry  on  the 
portion  of  The  Chisholm's  estate  she  managed  so  long  and  so  suc- 
cessfully, were  able  and  willing  to  rent  every  inch  of  the  whole 
of  Strath  gtass,  as  I  will  soon  prove  to  you.  But  let  me  first  fulfil 
my  promise  of  acquainting  you  of  the  manner  in  which  the  new 
accession  of  property  with  its  native  population  were  treated  by 
the  young  Chief  and  his  advisers.  For  a  few  years  the  people  were 
left  in  possession  of  their  respective  farms.  This,  however,  was  in 
order  to  adjust  matters  for  future  and  more  sweeping  arrangements, 
as  all  the  leases  in  Strathglass  were  about  to  expire.  To  the  best 
of  my  recollection  it  was  in  the  year  1830  that  all  the  men  in 
Strathglass  were  requested  to  meet  the  young  Chisholm  on  a 
certain  day  at  the  Inn  at  Cannich  Bridge.  The  call  was  readily 
complied  with,  the  men  were  all  there  in  good  time,  but  The 
Chisholm  was  not.  After  some  hours  of  anxious  waiting,  sundry 
surmises,  and  well-founded  misgivings,  a  gig  was  seen  at  a  distance 
driving  towards  the  assembled  men.  This  was  the  signal  for  a 
momentary  ray  of  hope.  But  on  the  arrival  of  the  vehicle  it  was 
discovered  that  it  contained  only  the  "  sense  carrier  "  of  the  pro- 
prietor, viz.,  the  factor,  who  told  the  men  that  The  Chisholm  was 
not  coming  to  the  meeting,  and  that,  as  factor,  he  had  no  instruc- 
tions to  enter  on  arrangements  with  them.  T  was  present,  and 
heard  the  curt  message  delivered,  and  I  leave  yon  to  imagine  the 
bitter  grief  and  disappointment  of  men  who  attended  that  meeting 
with  glowing  hopes  in  the  morning,  but  had  to  tell  their  families 
and  de[  endents  in  the  evening  that  they  could  see  no  alternative 
before  them  except  the  emigrant  ship  and  choose  between  the 
scorching  prairies  of  Australia  and  the  icy  regions  of  North 
America. 

In  a  very  short  time  after  this  abortive  meeting,  it  transpired 
that  the  very  best  farms  and  best  grazing  lands  in  Strathglass  were 
let  quite  silently,  without  the  knowledge  of  the  men  in  possession, 
to  shepherds  from  other  countries,  leaving  about  half  the  number 
of  the  native  population  without  house  or  home. 

Let  me  now  prove  to  you  how  the  native  tenantry  at  that 
time  in  Strathglass  were  both  able  and  willing  to  rent  every  inch 
of  it,  if  they  were  only  allowed  to  retain  their  farms  at  the  rent 
given  for  them  by  the  strangers.  I  will  prove  it  by  plain  incon- 
trovertible facts.  Here  they  are  : — When  the  late  generous  Lord 
Lovat  heard  of  the  ugly  treatment  of  the  tenantry  alluded  "to,  he 
entered  on  negotiations  with  the  late  Mr  George  Grieve,  the  only 


THH  CLEARANCE  OP  THE  HIGHLAND  GLENS.         185 

sheep  farmer  or  flockmaster  on  his  Lordship's  estates  at  Glen-Strath- 
farrar,  and  arranged  to  take  the  sheep  stock  at  valuation.  His 
Lordship  sent  for  the  evicted  tenants  to  Strathglass,  and  planted 
— so  to  speak — every  one  of  them  in  Glen-Strathfarrar.  The  stock 
was  valued  for  the  new  tenants  by  Mr  Donald  McRae,  who  died 
some  years  ago  at  Fearnaig,  Lochalsh,  and  by  Mr  Donald  McLeod, 
who  died  lately  at  Coulmore,  Redcastle.  These  gentlemen  were 
supposed  to  be  two  of  the  best  judges  in  the  Highlands,  and  were 
also  well  known  to  be  two  of  the  most  honourable  men  anywnere. 
I  was,  along  with  other  young  men  from  Glencanaich,  iti  Glen- 
Strathfarrar  at  the  time,  and  saw  the  stock  valued.  To  the  best 
of  my  recollection,  it  was  at  "Whitsunday  in  1831.  Well,  then, 
at  the  ensuing  Martinmas  every  copper  of  the  price  of  the  stock 
was  duly  paid  to  Mr  Grieve  by  the  new  tenants.  This  is  ample 
proof  of  their  ability  to  hold  their  own  had  they  been  allowed  to 
remain  in  Strathglass. 

Some  fourteen  years  afterwards,  when  the  rage  for  deer  forests 
began  to  assert  its  unhallowed  territorial  demands,  Lord  Lovat 
informed  these  self-same  tenants  that  he  wanted  to  add  their  farms 
to  his  deer-forest.  However,  to  mitigate  their  distress  at  the 
prospect  of  another  clearance,  his  Lordship  stated  that  he  did  not 
wish  to  part  with  one  of  them,  and  pointed  out  that  he  intended 
breaking  up  the  large  farms  on  the  estate.  I  remember  seeing 
twelve  ploughs,  the  property  of  one  farmer,  all  at  the  same  time  at 
work  on  the  plains  of  Beauly.  But,  to  his  credit,  and  in  honour 
of  his  memory  be  it  stated  and  remembered,  the  late  Lord  Lovat 
made  this  one  and  almost  all  other  farms  on  his  estate  accessible  to 
ordinary  farmers,  so  that  every  man  he  brought  to  Glen-Strathfarrar, 
and  every  one  he  removed  from  it,  were  comfortably  located  on 
other  parts  of  his  Lordship's  estates.  In  short,  the  management 
on  The  Chisholin's  estate  left  only  two  of  the  native  farmers  in 
Strathglass,  the  only  surviving  man  of  whom  is  Alexander  Chisholm, 
Raonbhrad.  He  is  paying  rent  as  a  middle-class  farmer  to  the 
present  Chisholm  for  nearly  twenty  years  back,  and  paid  rent  in 
the  same  farm  to  the  preceding  two  Chisholms  from  the  time  they 
got  possession  one  after  the  other  until  they  died.  He  was  also  a 
farmer  in  a  townland  or  joint-farm  in  "  Balanahann,"  on  "  the  fair 
lady's"  portion  of  Strathglass.  So  far,  he  has  satisfied  the  demands 
of  four  proprietors  and  seven  successive  factors  on  the  same  estate. 
And,  like  myself,  he  is  obeying  the  spiritual  decrees  of  the  fifth 
Pope,  protected  by  the  humane  laws  of  the  fourth  Sovereign,  and 
living  under  the  well-meaning  but  absent  fourth  Chief.  All  the 


186  TRANSACTIONS. 

rest  of  the  Strathglass  tenantry  found  a  home  on  the  Lovat 
estates,  where  their  sons  and  grandsons  still  are  among  the  most 
respectable  middle-class  farmers  in  Inverness-shire. 

Glenstrathfarrar,  by  far  the  most  fertile  glen  alloted  to  forestry 
in  the  Highlands,  has  been  from  that  time  and  still  is  the  free 
domain  of  foxes,  eagles,  and  hundreds  of  red  deer,  strictly  pre- 
served in  order  to  gratify  the  proclivities  of  sportsmen.  I  am  very 
Borry  for  it,  and  in  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  my  conscience  I 
must  add,  that  in  my  humble  opinion  it  is  a  serious  misappropria- 
tion of  much  excellent  grazing  and  some  good  arable  lands.  My 
firm  belief  is,  that  every  portion  of  God's  earth  should  be  occupied 
by  Christians  and  made  to  support  the  greatest  possible  number  of 
human  beings  in  the  greatest  possible  degree  of  comfort  and  happi- 
ness. 

As  I  stated,  there  were  only  two  native  farmers  left  in  Strath- 
glass.  But  the  only  one  who  left  his  native  country  of  his  own 
free  accord  at  that  time  was  my  own  dear  father.  So  that  when 
the  present  Chisholm  came  home  from  Canada  to  take  possession 
of  the  estate  about  nineteen  years  ago,  there  were  only  two  of  his 
name  and  kindred  in  possession  of  an  inch  of  land  in  Strathglass. 
At  the  first  opening  he  doubled  the  number  by  restoring  two  more 
Chisholm^  from  Lord  Lovat's  estate.  But  I  am  sorry  to  say  that 
restoration  is  a  plant  of  slow  growth  in  Strathglass.  It  is  only 
right,  however,  to  state  that  The  Chisholm  generously  re-established 
and  liberally  supported  one  of  the  tenants  in  the  farm  from  which 
he  was  evicted  nineteen  years  previously.  This  man's  father  and 
grandfather  lived  and  died  as  tenants  on  that  same  farm,  and  his 
great-grandfather,  Domhnul  MacUilleam,  was  killed  on  Druimossie- 
moor,  (better  but  more  detestably  known  as  Cuilloder-maor.)  I 
heard  it  said  that  this  faithful  clansman  was  shot  when  carrying 
his  mortally  wounded  commander,  The  Chisholrn's  youngest  son, 
in  his  arms. 

Some  years  ago  I  remember  reading,  I  think  in  the  Inverness 
Advertiser,  observations  made  by  a  tourist  or  a  traveller  who 
pissed  through  Glencanaich,  on  the  number  of  broken  houses  and 
crumbled  walls  he  saw  in  the  glen.  The  writer  concluded  from 
such  unmistakeable  signs  that  there  must  have  been  a  consider- 
able number  of  inhabitants  at  one  time  in  Glencanaich.  He  was 
quite  right  in  his  conclusions.  Even  within  my  own  recollec- 
tion, there  were  a  number  of  people  comfortably  located  in  the 
Glen.  Of  the  descendants  of  Glencanaich  men  there  were  living  in 
my  own  time,  one  Bishop  and  fifteen  Priests  ;  three  Colonels,  one 


THE  CLEARANCE  OP  TH1  HIGHLAND  GLENS.        187 

Major,  three  Captains,  three  Lieutenants  and  seven  Ensigns. 
There  is  not  one  of  all  these  military  men  now  alive.  There  are 
seven  of  the  Priests  alive.  An  elderly  man  in  that  district  assured 
me  that  Colonel  Chisholm,  who  died  some  years  ago  at  Alexandria, 
in  Upper  Canada,  was  a  Glencanaich  man.  The  last  of  the  military 
men  alluded  to,  died  about  a  year  ago,  and  a  Priest  was  since 
ordained.  This  will  account  for  the  discrepancy  between  this 
statement  and  that  of  "  Fear  Monaidh"  in  "  The  Gael"  of  August, 
1875,  page  235.  Such  were  the  men  mostly  reared,  and  who 
had  the  rudiments  of  their  education,  either  in  this  Glen  or  in 
Strathglass.  And  now  there  are  eight  shepherds,  seven  game- 
keepers, and  one  farmer  only,  in  Glencanaich.  Pray  forgive  me 
if  you  think  I  have  said  too  much  about  the  depopulation  of  Strath- 
glass.  You  have  repeatedly  expressed  a  wish  to  hear  how  the 
people  were  cleared  out  of  that  district.  In  obedience  to  that 
wish  I  have  given  you  a  mere  outline,  intentionally  passing  over 
the  recent  clearances  on  the  estate  of  Giusachan,  because  they 
are  well  known  to  all  who  interest  themselves  about  High- 
landers. The  future  historian  may  find  an  account  of  the  doings  at 
that  time  in  Giusachan  recorded  as  "Improvements"  in  the  columns 
of  the  Inverness  Courier.  He  may  find  them  also  closely  criticised 
and  openly  censured  in  the  Inverness  Advertiser  ;  and  they  occu- 
pied the  time  and  attention  of  a  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons  for  a  portion  of  three  days. 

It  was  not  with  any  degree  of  pleasure  that  I  approached  the 
subject,  and  I  will  leave  it  for  the  present.  But  before  doing  so  I 
may  tell  you  there  is  not  a  human  being  in  Strathglass  of  the  de- 
scendants of  those  who  were  instrumental  in  driving  the  people  out 
of  it.  I  believe  the  same  may  be  said  of  Glengarry,  and  I  heard 
it  stated  lately  by  a  man  who  knows  Sutherland  and  the  Reay 
country  well,  that  there  are  only  two  families  living  in  those 
countries  who  had  any  hand  in  or  on  whose  behalf  the  infamous 
clearances  of  1806  were  commenced.  It  need  scarcely  be  stated 
here  that  the  wholesale  clearances  alluded  to  were  inaugurated 
tinder  the  cruel  auspices  of  Elizabeth  the  sixteenth  Countess  of 
Sutherland,  and  now  it  appears  that  the  whole  race  of  the  Crowbar 
Brigade,  their  progeny  and  abettors,  are  (by  some  mysterious 
agency)  fast  gliding  away  from  the  country  they  have  so  ruthlessly 
desolated. 

Glengarry  was  cleared  by  "  Marsali  Bhinnach,"  Strathglass  was 
cleared  by  her  daughter  Eliza,  and  Sutherland  was  cleared  by 
Elizabeth  the  sixteenth  Countess  of  Sutherland.  These  three  ladies 


188  TRANSACTIONS. 

may  have  been  good  wives  and  good  mothers ;  I  have  nothing  to 
say  against  their  private  character.  But  their  public  acts  in  land 
clearances  ought  to  stand  forth  as  landmarks  to  be  avoided  by  the 
present  landed  proprietors  and  by  all  future  owners  and  adminis- 
trators of  land. 

In  conclusion,  let  me  repeat  what  1  have  said,  that  it  is  totally 
beyond  my  comprehension  how  our  forefathers  could  have  divested 
themselves  of  every  species  of  control  and  power  over  the  land  of 
thes^  countries.  I  have  seen  it  stated  in  an  Edinburgh  paper  that 
nineteen  men  own  half  the  land  in  Scotland. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  we  know  that  less  than  nineteen  miserable 
landed  proprietors  brought  the  present  desolation  on  the  Glens  of 
the  Highlands.  And  now  the  simple  but  important  question  is 
— Will  you  do  all  in  your  power  to  alter  this  state  of  things  1 
Will  you  collectively  and  individually  endeavour  to  leave  the  ten- 
ure of  land  in  the  Highlands  in  a  better  state  than  you  found  it  1 
My  own  humble  opinion  is,  that  you  ought  to  petition  Parliament 
forthwith,  praying  that  they  may  be  pleased  to  interpose  between 
misapplied  capital  and  the  cultivators  of  the  land  in  the  Highlands. 
It  would  perhaps  be  presumption  on  my  part  to  propose  or  even 
to  suggest  any  of  the  terms  which  ought  to  be  employed  in  your 
petition.  But  I  think  you  might  with  good  grace  remind  the  pre- 
sent Government  of  what  the  late  Gladstone  Government  did  for 
the  cultivators  of  the  soil  in  Ireland.  Let  your  petition  be  legally 
conceived,  wisely  worded,  numerously  signed,  or  signed  by  your 
Chairman  only  on  behalf  of  the  meeting,  respectfully  presented 
and  patiently  discussed  in  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland.  In  one  word,  let  all  your  proceedings  be  strictly  within 
the  pale  of  the  ten  commandments,  and,  by  the  help  of  Him  who 
made  them,  you  will  be  sure  and  certain  of  success. 


MEMBERS    OF    THE    SOCIETY. 


HONORARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

Sir  Kenneth  S.  Mackenzie  of  Gairlochj  Bart. 
Professor  John  Stuart  Blackie,  Edinburgh  University 
Charles  Fraser-Mackintosh  of  Drummond,  M.P. 
Duncan  Davidson  of  Tulloch 


LIFE    MEMBERS. 

Cluny  Macpherson  of  Cluny  Macpherson 

Forbes,  Alexander,  143  West  Regent  Street,  Glasgow 

Fraser,  Alexander,  74  Church  Street,  Inverness 

Fraser-Mackintosh,  Charles,  of  Drummond,  M.P. 

Mackenzie,  Sir  Kenneth  S.,  of  Gairloch,  Bart. 

Burgess,  Peter,  factor  for  Glenmoriston,  Drumnadrochit 

Mackay,  Donald,  Gampola,  Kandy,  Ceylon 

Mackay,  George  F.,  Roxburgh,  Otago,  New  Zealand 

Mackay,  James,  Roxburgh,  Otago,  New  Zealand 

Mackay,  John,  C.E.,  Swansea  (late  of  Shrewsbury) 

Mackenzie,  Allan  R.,  yr.  of  Kintail,  Achnagairn  House,  Inverness 


HONORARY    MEMBERS. 

Anderson,  James,  solicitor,  Inverness 

Black,  Rev.  Dr,  Inverness 

Blackie,  Professor  John  Stuart,  Edinburgh  University 

Bourke,  Very  Rev.  Canon,  Pres.,  St  Jarlath's  College,  Tuam 

Buchan,  Dr  Patrick,  Lancashire  Insurance  Company 

Cameron,  Cap  tain  D.  C.,  Talisker 


190  TRANSACTIONS. 

Campbell,  George  Murray,  Gampola,  Ceylon 

Carruthers,  "Walter,  "  Courier  "  Office,  Inverness 

Chisholm,  Captain  A.  Macra,  Glassburn,  Strathglasa 

Cooper,  William,  Highland  Railway,  Inverness 

Davidson,  Donald,  solicitor,  Inverness 

Davidson,  Duncan,  of  Tulloch,  Ross-shire 

Farquharson,  Rev.  Archibald,  Tyree 

Ferguson,  Mrs,  6  Charles  Street,  Lowndes  Square,  London 

Fraser,  A.  T.  F.,  clothier,  Church  Street,  Inverness 

Fraser,  Huntly,  Kinnmyles,  Inverness 

Grant,  John,  Cardiff",  Wales 

Grant,  General  Sir  Patrick,  G.C.B.,  Chelsea,  London 

Grant,  Robert,  of  Messrs  Macdougall  &  Co.,  Inverness 

Grant,  Major  W.,  Drumbuie,  Glen-Urquhart 

Innes,  Charles,  solicitor,  Inverness 

Jerram,  C.  S.,  M.A.,  Woodcote  House,  Windlesham 

Jolly,  William,  H.M.  Inspector  of  Schools,  Albyn  Place,  Inverness 

Macalpin,  Ken.  Grant,  A.I.C.E.,  F.R.G.S.,  Pembroke,  South  Walea 

Macalpin,  Donald  Alex.,  R.N.,  F.R.G.S.,  Pembroke,  Wales 

Macandrew,  H.  C.,  Sheriff-Clerk,  Inverness-shire 

Macdonald,  Alexander,  Balranald,  Uist 

Macdonald,  Allan,  solicitor,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  Andrew,  solicitor,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  Captain  D.  P.,  Ben-Nevis  Distillery 

Macdonald,  John,  Marine  Hotel,  Nairn 

Macdonell,  Patrick,  Kinchyle,  Dores 

Macfarquhar,  John,  M.  A,  Inverness 

Macgregor,  Rev.  Alex.,  M.A,  Inverness 

Mackay,  Charles,  LL.D.,  Fern  Dell  Cottage,  near  Dorking 

Mackay,  Donald,  San  Francisco,  California 

Mackay,  John,  of  Ben  Reay,  at  Fortrose 

MacKay,  John  Stuart,  San  Francisco,  California 

Mackay,  Neil,  Penylan  House,  Pencoed,  Bridgend,  Wales 

Mackenzie,  Rev.  A.  D.,  Free  Church,  Kilmorack 

Mackenzie,  Colonel  Hugh,  of  Parkmount,  Forres 

Mackenzie,  John,  M.D.,  of  Eileanach,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  Osgood  H.,  of  Inverewe,  Poolewe 

Mackenzie,  Major  Thomas,  78th  Highlanders,  Curragh 

Mackenzie,  Thomas,  Broadstone  Park,  Inverness 

Mackintosh  of  Mackintosh,  Moyhall 

Mackintosh,  Angus,  of  Holme 

Mackintosh,  Eneas  W.,  of  Raigmore 


UBMBEKS.  191 

Mackintosh,  P.  A.,  C.E.,  Bridgend,  Glamorgan 

Maclennan,  Alexander,  of  Messrs  Masdougall  &  Co.,  Inverness 

Macrae,  D.  A.,  Englishton  House,  near  Inverness 

Macrae,  Ewen,  (of  Ardtulloch,  Australia,)  Glenvargillj  £• 

Menzies,  John,  Caledonian  Hotel,  Inverness 

Nicolson,  Angus,  LL.B.,  late  Editor  of  The  Gael,  Glasgow. 

O'Hara,  Thomas,  Inspector  of  National  Schools,  Gort,  Ireland. 

Reidhaven,  Lord,  Balmacaan,  Glen  Urqunart 

Ross,  Rev.  William,  Rothesay 

Scott,  Roderick,  solicitor,  Inverness 

Seafield,  the  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  of,  Castle  Grant 

Shaw,  A.  Mackintosh,  Secretary's  Office,  G.P.O.,  London 

Small,  James,  of  Dirnanean,  Pitlochry 

Stewart,  John,  Duntulm,  Skye 

Stoddart,  Evan,  Mudgee,  N.S.  Wales,  Australia 

Sutherland,  Alexander,  Taff  Brae  Cottage,  Cefn,  Merthyr-Tydvil 

Sutherland- Walker,  Evan  Charles,  of  Skibo. 

Wilson,  P.  G.,  Inverness 


ORDINARY    MEMBERS. 

Alison,  James  Mackenzie,  Redcastle 

Baillie,  Peter,  Inverness 

Bain,  Wm.,  "  Courier"  Office,  Inverness 

Bannatyne,  Wm.  Mackinnon,  Stirling 

Barclay,  John,  accountant,  Inverness 

Barron,  James,  "  Courier"  Office,  Inverness 

Bisset,  Rev.  Mr,  R.  C.,  Stratherrick 

Black,  George,  banker,  Inverness 

Burgess,  Alex.,  Caledonian  Bank,  Gairloch 

Cameron,  A.  H.  F.,  of  Lakefield,  2  Shield  Road,  Liverpool 

Cameron,  Archibald,  Glenbarr,  Kintyre 

Cameron,  Rev.  Mr,  the  Manse,  Glen 

Cameron,  Donald,  of  Lochiel,  M.P. 

Cameron,  Hugh,  Clunes,  Lochaber 

Campbell,  Alexander,  supervisor,  Kyleakin,  Skye 

Campbell,  D.  A.,  builder,  Crown  Street,  Inverness 

Campbell,  Donald,  draper,  Bridge  Street,  Inverness 

Campbell,  Duncan,  merchant,  Fort  Augustus 

Campbell,  Fraser,  (of  Fraser  and  Campbell),  High  Street,  Inverness 

Campbell,  George  J.,  solicitor,  Inverness 


192  TRANSACTIONS. 

Campbell,  T.  D.  (of  Gumming  and  Campbell), Ness  Bank, Inverness 

Carmicbael,  Alexander  A.,  Inland  Revenue,  Benbecula,  Lochmaddy 

Charleson,  Hector,  Railway  Refreshment  Rooms,  Forres 

Charleson,  Kenneth,  Forres 

Chisholm,  Colin,  Namur  Cottage,  Inverness 

Chisholm,  Simon,  Flowerdale,  Gairloch 

Clarke,  Alexander,  Balnafroig,  Dores 

Colvin,  John,  solicitor,  Inverness 

Gumming,  James,  "  Advertiser"  Office,  Inverness 

Gumming,  James,  Allanfearn,  Inverness 

Dallas,  Alexander,  Town-Clerk,  Inverness 

Davidson,  Andrew,  sculptor,  Inverness 

Davidson,  John,  Grocer,  Inglis  Street,  Inverness 

Davidson,  Lachlan,  banker,  Kingussie 

Dott,  Donald,  Caledonian  Bank,  Lochmaddy 

Douglas,  Win.,  Aberdeen  Town  and  County  Bank,  Inverness 

Duncan,  Dr  George,  Conchra,  Lochalsh 

Duncan,  John  M.,  "The  Highlander"  Office,  Inverness 

Falconer,  Peter,  plasterer,  Inverness 

Ferguson,  Charles,  Raigrnore  House,  Inverness 

Ferguson,  Lachlan,  schoolmaster,  -Guisachan,  Strathglass 

Finlayson,  Simon,  commercial  traveller,  3  Jamaica  Street,  Glasgow 

Forbes,  DrG.  F.,  of  the  Bombay  Army,  Viewfield  House,  Inverness 

Forbes,  Duncan,  of  Culloden 

Forsyth,  Ebenezer,  "  Inverness  Advertiser"  Office,  Inverness 

Forsyth,  John  H.,  wine  merchant,  Inverness 

Forsyth,  "W.  B.,  of  the  "  Inverness  Advertiser,"  Inverness 

Fraser,  ./Eneas,  care  of  Innes  and  Mackay,  Inverness 

Fraser,  Alexander,  solicitor,  Inverness 

Fraser,  Andrew,  builder,  Inverness 

Fraser,  Andrew,  cabinetmaker,  Union  Street,  Inverness 

Fraser,  A.  R.,  British  Linen  Company  Bank,  Stirling 

Fraser,  D.,  Glenelg 

Fraser,  Donald,  solicitor,  Nairn 

Fraser,  Hugh,  inspector  of  poor,  Inverness 

Fraser,   Hugh,  Balloch,  Culloden 

Fraser,  Hugh  C.,  Haugh,  Inverness 

Fraser,  James,  commission  agent,  Lombard  Street,  Inverness 

Fraser,  James,  C.E.,  Inverness 

Fraser,  James,  Mauld,  Strathglass 

Fraser,  James,  manufacturer,  41  North  Albion  Street,  Glasgow 

Fraser,  Rev.  John,  Free  Church  Manse,  Rosskeen 


MEMBERS.  193 

Fraser,  Kenneth,  writer,  Church  Street,  Inverness 

Eraser,  Miss,  Farraline  Villa,  North  Berwick 

Fraser,  Peter,  Beauly 

Fraser,  Siinon,  banker,  Lochcarron 

Fraser,  William,  jeweller,  High  Street,  Inverness 

Galloway,  George,  chemist,  Inverness 

Garden,  Archibald,  Beaufort  Gardens,  Glasgow 

Gillies,  H.  C.,  Glasgow,  late  of  Culloden. 

Gillanders,  John,  teacher,  Denny 

Glass,  C.  C.,  North  Street,  St  Andrews 

Grant,  Rev.  J.,  E.  C.  Manse,  Ullapool 

Gunn,  Wm.,  Draper,  Castle  Street,  Inverness 

Hood,  Andrew,  commercial  traveller,  39  Union  Street,  Inverness 

Hood,  Miss,  39  Union  Street,  Inverness 

Joass,  "W.  C.,  architect,  Dingwall 

Kennedy,  Donald,  farmer,  Drumashie,  Dores 

Kennedy,  Neil,  Kishorn,  Lochcarron 

Krauze,  Fritz,  Waverley  Hotel,  Inverness 

Livingstone,  Colin,  Fort- William 

Loban,  Robert  Gumming,  Caledonian  Bank,  Invergarry 

Macbean,  ex-Baillie  Alexander,  Inverness 

Macbean,  George,  42  Union  Street,  Inverness 

Macbean,  James,  77  Church  Street,  Inverness 

Macbean,  Lachlan,  "  Fifeshire  Advertiser"  office,  Kirkcaldy 

Macaskill,  D.,  saddler,  Dun  vegan 

Macculloch,  Duncan,  teacher,  Achnacarry,  Fort- William 

Macdonald,  Alexander,  messenger-at-arms,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  Alexander,  flesher,  New  Market,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  Alexander,  mason,  Abriachan 

Macdonald,  Donald,  farmer,  Culchraggie,  Alness 

Macdonald,  Donald,  painter,  Inverness 

Maodonald,  Finlay,  Druidag,  Kintail 

Macdonald,  John,  banker,  Buckie 

Macdonald,  John,  Ballifeary,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  John,  gamekeeper,  Dunphail 

Macdonald,  John,  Inland  Revenue,  Edinburgh 

Macdonald,  John,  live  stock  agent,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  John,  merchant,  Exchange,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  John,  care  of  Innes  &  Mackay,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  Thomas,  builder,  Hilton  Village,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  Dr  William,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  William,  Hilton  Village,  Inverness 


194  TRANSACTIONS. 

Macdonald,  William,  contractor,  Badcall,  Glen-TJrquhart 

Macdonald,  Murdo,  Row  House,  by  Doune,  Pitlochry 

Macdonel],  F.  D.,  Hastings,  Hawkes  Bay,  New  Zealand 

Macdougall,  Donald,  Craggan,  Grantown 

Macgillivray,  Finlay,  solicitor,  Inverness 

Macgregor,  Donald,  42  Glassford  Street,  Glasgow 

Macgregor,  John,  hotelkeeper,  Invermoriston 

Macgregor,  Rev.  Malcolm,  F.C.  Manse,  Ferrintosh 

Maciver,  Donald  (student  of  Aberdeen  University),  Inverness 

Maciver,  Duncan,  Church  Street,  Inverness 

Maciver,  Finlay,  carver,  Church  Street,  Inverness 

Macinnes,  John,  innkeeper,  Invergarry 

Macintyre,  Donald,  schoolmaster,  Arpafeelie 

Mackay,  Alexander,  builder,  Academy  Street,  Inverness 

Mackay,  Charles,  builder,  Culduthel  Road,  Inverness 

Mackay,  D.  J,  solicitor,  Inverness 

Mackay,  John  G.,  118  Plantation  Street,  Glasgow 

Mackay,  Wm.,  solicitor,  Church  Street,  Inverness 

Mackay,  William,  bookseller,  High  Street,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  Alexander,  editor,  "  Celtic  Magazine,"  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  Alexander,  wine-merchant,  Church  Street,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  A.  0.,  teacher,  Mary  burgh,  Dingwall 

Mackenzie,  Andrew,  ironmonger,  Alness 

Mackenzie,  C.  D.,  102  Linthorpe  Road,  Middlesboro'-on-Tees 

Mackenzie,  Evan,  solicitor,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  Dr  F.  M.,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  H.  F.,  Caledonian  Bank,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  Hugh,  bookbinder,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  Hugh,  postmaster,  Alness 

Mackenzie,  James  H.,  bookseller,  High  Street,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  Malcolm  J.,  teacher,  Public  School,  Lochcarron 

Mackenzie,  Murdoch.  Inland  Revenue,  Fort- William 

Mackenzie,    Simon,  (Earrison  &  Co.),  Chambers  Street,  Edinburgh 

Mackenzie,  William,  factor,  Ardross 

Mackenzie,  William,  solicitor,  Dingwall 

Mackenzie,  William,  "  Aberdeen  Free  Press"  Office,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  William,  draper,  Bridge  Street,  Inverness 

Mackinnon,  Deputy  Surgeon-General  W.  A.,  C.B.,  Aldershot 

Mackintosh,  Charles,  commission-agent.  Church  Street,  Inverness 

Mackintosh,  Donald,  The  Hotel,  Glenelg 

Mackintosh,  Duncan,  Bank  of  Scotland,  Oban 

Mackintosh,  Duncan,  draper,  57  High  Street,  Inverness 


MEMBERS.  195 

Mackintosh,  Ewen,  Roy  Bridge  Hotel,  by  Kingussie 
Mackintosh,  Rev.  John,  Mauld,  Strathglass 
Mackintosh,  Lachlan,  Milton  of  Farr,  Daviot 
Mackintosh,  Miss,  The  Brae,  Denny 

Mackintosh,  Peter,  Messrs  Macdougall  &  Co.'s,  Grantown 
Maclachlan,  Duncan,  publisher,  64  South  Bridge,  Edinburgh 
Maclachlan,  Rev.  Lachlan,  Established  Church,  Tain 
Maclean,  Alexander,  Drumrnond  Street,  Inverness 
Maclean,  Alexander,  teacher,  Abriachan 
Maclean,  John,  Holm  Maics,  Inverness 
Maclean,  Roderick,  Ardross,  Alness 
Macleay,  W.  A.,  birdstuffer,  Inverness 
Maclennan,  Kenneth,  clothier,  Colchester 
Macleod,  Alexander,  grocer,  Bridge  Street,  Inverness 
Macleod,  Robert,  commercial-traveller,  Leith 
Maclure,  Alexander,  21  Whittall  Street,  Birmingham 
MacDcillan,  Archd.,  Kaituna,  Havelock,  Marlborough,  If.Z. 
Macmillan,  Duncan,  Bundalloch,  Kintail 
Macmillan,  John,  Kingsmills  Road,  Inverness 
Macnee,  Dr,  Inverness 
Macneil,  Nigel,  Dumbarton  Road,  Glasgow 
Macphail,  Alexander,  farmer,  Cullaird,  Dores 
Macphail,  Angus,  35  Lothian  Street,  Edinburgh 
Macpherson,  D.,  Glenn  ess  Place,  Inverness 
Macpherson,  Duncan,  3  Union  Street,  Inverness 
Macpherson,  James,  Rose  Street,  Inverness 
Macpherson,  Rev.  John,  F.  C.  Manse,  Lairg 
Macpherson,  Mrs  Sarah,  Alexandra  Villa,  Kingussie 
Macrae,  Alexander  M.,  Glenoze,  Skye 
Macrae,  Rev.  A,  Free  Church  Manse,  Clachan,  Kintyre 
Macrae,  Rev.  Angus,  Glen-TJrquhart 
Macrae,  Donald,  High  School,  Inverness 
Macrae,  Duncan,  Ardintoul,  Lochalsh 
Macrae,  Ewen,  Braintrath,  Lochalsh 
Macrae,  Ewen,  (late  of  Leacaehan,)  Ness  Bank,  Inrerness 
Macrae,  R.,  postmaster,  Beauly 
Macrae,  Roderick,  Island  of  Eigg,  by  Greenock 
Macrae,  Donald,  Glenvargill,  Skye 
Macrae,  Thomas,  Glasnakill,  Skye 
Macrae,  Duncan,  Camusunary,  Skye 
Macrae,  John,  medical  student,  Braintra,  Lochalah 
Macrae,  Kenneth,  Achlorachan,  Strathconon 

M  2 


196  TRANSACTIONS. 

Macraild,  A.  R.,  Inverness 

Matheson,  Captain  A.,  Dornie,  Lochalsh 

Matheson,  Dr  Farquhar,  Soho  Square,  London 

Matheson,  John,  supervisor,  Alness 

Melven,  James,  bookseller,  Inverness 

Menzies,  Duncan,  farmer,  Lairg 

Middleton,  David,  coal  merchant,  Inverness 

Morrison,  Robert,  jeweller,  Inverness 

Morrison,  William,  schoolmaster,  Ding-wall 

Mundell,  John,  Gorthlick 

Munro,  A.  R.,  57  Cainphill  Road,  Birmingham 

Munro,  John,  wine-merchant,  Inverness 

Murdoch,  John,  "  The  Highlander,"  Inverness 

Murray,  William,  chief-constable,  The  Castle,  Inverness 

Nicholson,  Jonathan,  wine  merchant,  Pershore  Street,  Birmingham 

Nicolson,  Wm.,  Whitecrpft,  Lydney 

Noble,  Andrew,  Lombard  Street,  Inverness 

Noble,  Donald,  baker,  Muirton  Street,  Inverness 

Noble,  John,  bookseller,  Castle  Street,  Inverness. 

Noble,  Wm.,  The  Grocery,  Inverness 

O'Leary,  Dennis  A.,  Charleville,  County  Cork 

Ramsay,  Donald,  teacher,  Reformatory,  Inverness 

Rhind,  John,  architect,  Inverness 

Robertson,  George,  Bank  of  Scotland,  Inverness 

Rose,  Rev.  A.  Macgregor,  F.  C.  Manse,  Evie  and  Rendall,  Orkney 

Rose,  Hugh,  solicitor,  Inverness 

Ross,  Alex.,  architect,  Inverness 

Ross,  Alex.,  teacher,  Alness 

Ross,  Alex.,  "  Journal"  Office,  Dingwall 

Ross,  D.  R.,  Gas  Office,  Inverness 

Ross,  John,  Glenalbyn  Hotel,  Inverness 

Ross,  Jonathan,  draper,  Inverness 

Ross,  Rodk.,  Middlesboro'-on-Tees 

Shaw,  Hugh,  tinsmith,  Inverness 

Shaw,  John  D.,  accountant,  Inverness 

Simpson,  Provost,  Inverness 

Sinclair,  Archibald,  printer,  62  Argyle  Street,  Glasgow 

Sinclair,  Duncan,  teacher,  Parish  School,  Lochalsh 

Sinclair,  Roderick,  High  Street,  Inverness 

Sinton,  Thomas,  Nuide,  Kingussie 

Smith,  Rev.  F.,  Arpafeelie 

Smith,  Thomas  A.,  clerk,  Steam  Saw  Mills,  Inverness 


MEMBERS.  197 

Smith,  "Wm.  Alex.,  Scottish  Imperial  Assurance  Coy.,  Manchester 

Stewart,  Colin  J.,  Dingwall 

Stewart,  Robert,  shipbuilder,  Inverness 

Stratton,  Dr,  4  Valletort  Terrace,  Stoke,  Devenport 

Sutherland,  J.  M.,  Barrock,  School,  Bower 

Sutherland,  Rev.  A.  C.,  Strathbraan,  Perthshire 

Tait,  G.  G.,  solicitor,  Tain 

Thompson,  Robert,  grocer,  Tomnahuricb  Street,  Inverness 

Tulloch,  John,  painter,  Inverness 

Watson,  Rev.  William,  Kiltearn,  Evanton 

Whyte,  David,  Church  Street,  Inverness 

Whyte,  John,  "  The  Highlander"  Inverness 

Wilson,  George,  S.S.C.,  H  Hill  Street,  Edinburgh 


APPRENTICES. 

Fraser,  John,  11  Argyll  Street,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  Murdoch,  Ullapool 

Macdougall,  Charles,  Lombard  Street,  Inverness 

Macgillivray,  William,  assistant  grocer,  High  Street,  Inverness 

Mackay,  James  John,  Diumrnond,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  Alex.,  assistant  grocer,  High  Street,  Inverness 

Mackintosh,  John,  57  High  Street,  Inverness 

Matheson,  Alexander,  stonecutter,  Academy  Street,  Inverness 

Packman,  James,  Church  Street,  Inverness 

Ross,  Donald,  Union  Street,  Inverness 


DECEASED  MEMBERS  OF  THE  SOCIETY. 


LIFE    MEMBER. 
Halley,  Alex.,  M.D.,  F.G.S.,  London 

HONORARY    MEMBERS. 

Macrae,  D.  J.,  Inverslriel,  Kintail 
Neaves,  Hon.  Lord,  LL.D.,  Edinburgh 
Stewart,  Charles,  of  Brin 

ORDINARY    MEMBERS. 

Campbell,  Alex.,  Grant  Street,  Inverness 
Davidson,  James,  solicitor,  Inverness 
Macaskill,  John,  Scourie,  Lairg 
Masdonald,  Angus,  Queen  Street,  Inverness 
Macdonald,  Coll,  Lochend,  near  Inverness 
Macdonald,  Robert,  Telford  Road,  Inverness 
Macdonald,  Andrew  L.,  late  Sheriff-Substitute,  Lews 
Macinnes,  Neil,  Hotel  Keeper,  Kyleakin 
Mackenzie,  Rev.  Dr,  Silverwells,  Inverness 
Macpherson,  Col.  A.  F.,  of  Catlodge 
Urquhart,  Murdo,  Inverness 


LIST  OF  BOOKS  IN  THE  SOCIETY'S  LIBRARY. 


NAMES  OF  BOOKS.  DONOR. 

1871. 

Ossian's    Poems     (H.    Society's   edition,  )  Colonel  Mackenzie, 

Gaelic  and  Latin),  3  vols.  J        Poyntzfield. 

Smith's  Gaelic  Antiquities        .         .         .  ditto 

Smith's  Seann  Dana        ....  ditto 

Highland  Society's    Report   on    Ossiau's 

Poems ......  ditto 

Stewart's  Sketches  of  the  Highlands.  2  vols.  ditto 

Skene's  Picts  and  Scots   ....  ditto 

Dan  Oisein  Mhic  Fhin1    ....  ditto 

Macleod's  Oran  Nuadh  Gaelach         .          .  ditto 

An  Teachdaire  Gaelach,  1829-30       .         .  ditto 

Carew's  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Ireland  Mr  W.  Mackay 

Grain  Ghilleasouig  Grannd,  2  copies  .  Mr  Charles  Mackay 

Macconnell's  Reul-eolas   ....  ditto 

Maclauchlan's  Celtic  Gleanings          .         .  Rev.  Dr  Maclauchlan 

1872. 

Maclauchlan's  Early  Scottish  Church         .  ditto 

The  Dean  of  Lismore's  Book    .         .         .  ditto 

Macleod  &  Dewar's  Gaelic  Dictionary       .  ditto 

Highland  Society's  do.,  2  vols.           .         .  Sir  Ken.  S.  Mackenzie 

of  Gairloch,  Bart. 

Ritson's  Caledonians,  Picts,  and  Scots,  2  vols.  ditto 

Dr  Walker's  Hebrides,  2  vols   .          .         .  ditto 
Campbell's  Language,  Poetry,  and  Music  of 

the  Highland  Clans        .         .         .  Mr  John  Murdoch 
Macnicol's  Remarks  on  Dr  Johnson's  Tour 

in  the  Hebrides    ....  ditto 

Somer's  Letters  from  the  Highlands          .  ditto 


200  TRANSACTIONS. 

NAMES  OP  BOOKS.  DONOR. 

Cameron's  Chemistry  of  Agriculture      .         Mr  John  Murdoch 
Sketches  of  Islay          .....  ditto 

Cameron's  History  of  Skye  ....  ditto 

Kennedy's  Bardic  Stories  of  Ireland     .         .  ditto 

Hicky's  Agricultural  Class-book  .          .          .  ditto 

Grain  Gaelach  Mhic  Dhunleibhe  .         .         .  ditto 

The  Wolf  of  Badenoch         ....  ditto 

Familiar  Illustrations  of  Scottish  Life  .         .  ditto 

Antiquity  of  the  Gaelic  Language         .         .  ditto 

The  Dauntless  Red  Hugh  of  Tyrconnell       .  ditto 

The  Kilchoman  People  Vindicated        .         .  ditto 

Carad  a  Ghael — Sermon      ....  ditto 

Highland  Clearances  the  cause  of  Highland 

Famines  .         .         .         .          .         .  ditto 

Co-operative  Associations     .  ditto 

Lecture       .......  ditto 

Review  of  "  Eight  Days  in  Islay"      „  ,:,0     .  ditto 

Gold  Diggings  in  Sutherland         .          .          .  ditto 

Review  of  Language  of  Ireland   .         .         .  ditto 

Highland  Character    .....  ditto 

An  Teachdare  Gaelach  1829-30   .         .        '.  ditto 

The  Scottish  Regalia ditto 

Campbell's  West  Highland  Tales,  4  vols      Mr  Alex.  Mackenzie 

Bliadhna  Thearlaich ditto 

Macfarlane's  Collection  of  Gaelic   Poems     Miss  Hood 

Old  Gaelic  Bible  (partly  MS.)       .;      ".""      J.  Mackenzie,  M.D., 

of  Eileanach 

Machale's  Irish  Pentateuch.  .          .  Professor  Bourke 

Irish  Translatian  of  Moore's  Melodies  .          .  ditto 

The    Bull    "  Ineffabilis"     (Latin,     English, 

Gaelic,  and  French)  ....  ditto 

Celtic  Language  and  Dialects       .         .         .  ditto 

Bourke's  Irish  Grammar      ....  ditto 

Bourke's  Easy  Lessons  in  Irish    .         .         .  ditto 

Mackenzie's  Beauties  of  Gaelic  Poetry  .          Rev.  W.  Ross,  Rothe- 

say 

Macrimmon's  Piobaireachd  .         .         .  Rev.  A.  Macgregor 

Stratton's  Gaelic  Oiigin  of  Greek  and  Latin  ditto 

Gaelic  Translation   of  Apocrypha    (by  Rev. 

A.  Macgregor)  ....  ditto 

Buchanan's  Historia  Scotise          .         .          Mr  William  Mackay 


BOOKS. 


201 


NAMES  OP  BOOKS. 

The  Game  Laws,  by  R.  G.  Tolmie  . 
St  James's  Magazine,  vol.  i     . 

Fingai  (edition  1762)      .   •      . 

Collection  of  English  Poems  (2  vols) 
Philologic  Uses  of  the  Celtic  Tongue 
Sco to-Celtic  Philology  .... 

1873. 

Dana  Oisein  (Maclauchlan's  edition) 
Munro's  Gaelic  Primer    .... 
M' Alpine's  Gaelic  Dictionary  . 
M'Mhuirich's  "  Duanaire  "... 
Munro's  Gaelic  Grammar 
Grain  Mhic-an-t-Saoir     .... 
Grain  Uilleam  Bos  .... 

Ceithir  Searmoin,  le  Dr  Dewar 
Carsewell's  Prayer  Book  (Gaelic) 
Scot's  Magazine  (1757)    . 
History  of  the  Bebellion,  1745-46    . 

Welsh  Bible 

Old  Gaelic  New  Testament 

Adhamh  agus  Eubh  (Adam  and  Eve) 

Old  Gaelic  Bible 

Orain  Ailein  Dughalach  .... 
Macpherson's  Poems  of  Ossian. 

1874. 

An  Gaidheal  for  1873       . 
Orain,  cruinnichte  le  Mac-an-Tuairnear     . 

The  Gospels,  in  eight  Celtic  dialects . 
Eraser  of  Knockie's  Highland  Music 

1875. 

The  Clan  Battle  at  Perth,  by  A.  M.  Shaw 
The  Scottish  Metrical  Psalms 
Sailm  Dhaibhidh  Ameadreachd  (Ed.  1659). 


DOITOR. 

Mr  William  Mackay 

Mr  Mackay,  book- 
seller, Inverness 

C.  Eraser-Mackintosh, 
Esq.,  M.P. 

Mr  D.  Mackintosh 

Mr  D.  Maciver 

Lord  N"eaves,  LL.D., 
F.RS.E. 

Maclachlan  &  Stewart 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

Purchased 
Mr  A.  Macbean 
Mr  D.  Mackintosh 
Mr  L.  Mackintosh 
Mr  L.  Macbean 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 


The  Publishers 
Mr  A.  M.  Shaw,  Lon- 
don 
Mr       J.       Mackay, 

Shrewsbury 
Mr  Mackenzie,  Bank 
Lane,  Inverness 

The  Author 

Mr  J.  Eraser,  Glasgow 


202  TRANSACTIONS. 

NAMES  OF  BOOKS.  DONOR. 
1876. 

Biographical     Dictionary      of     Eminent )  Mr  A.  R.  Macraild, 

Scotsmen  (9  vols.)    .         .         .         .  J      Inverness 

Grain  Ghilleasbuig  Grannd      .         .         .  Mr  J.  Craigie,  Dundee 

CJarsacb  nan  Beann         ....  ditto 

Fulangas  Chriosd              •.  ditto 

Dain  Spioradail        .....  ditto 

Spiritual  Songs  (Gaelic  and  English)         .  ditto 

Alexander  Macdonald's  Gaelic  Poems       .  ditto 

Grain  Mhic-an-t-Saoir      ....  ditto 

Leabhar  nan  ceist   .....  ditto 

Co-eigneachadh  Soisgeulach  (Boston)         .  ditto 

History  of  the  Druids  (Toland's)      .         .  ditto 

Melodies  from  the  Gaelic         .         .         .  ditto 

Maclean's  History  of  the  Celtic  Language  ditto 

Leabhar  Sailm         .....  ditto 

Origin  and  Descent  of  the  Gael        .         .  ditto 

Stewart's  Gaelic  Grammar       .         .         .  ditto 
Macpherson's  Caledonian  Antiquities 

(1768) ditto 

Biboul  Noimbh  (London  1855)        .         .  ditto 

Searmona  Mhic  Dhairmaid      .         .         .  ditto 

Dain  Oisein   ......  ditto 

Fingal  (1762) ditto 

Life  of  Columba  (1798)  .         .         .         .  ditto 

Grain  Rob  Duinn  Mhic  Aoidb.         .         .  ditto 

Dain  leis  an  Urr.  I.  Lees         .         .         .  ditto 

Searmona  leis  an  Urr.  E.  Blarach    .         .  ditto 
Eaglais  na  h-Alba,  leis  an  Urr.  A.  Clare, 

Inbhirnis         .          .          .          .         .  ditto 

Bourke's  Aryan  Origin  of  tae  Gaelic  Race  Mr  J.  Mackay,Shrews- 

bury 

Reed's  Bibliotheca  Scoto-Celtica       .         .  ditto 

Munro's  GaelicPrimer  (Scopiesinlibrary).  Purchased 
Eachdraidh  na  h-Alba,  le  A.  Mac  Coinnich 

(3  copies  in  library)           .         .         .  The  Author 

Dain  Gailig  leis  an  Urr.  I.  Lees       .         .  Rev.  Dr  Lees,  Paisley 
Philologic  Uses  of  the  Celtic  Tongue,   by 

Professor  Geddes  (1872)  .         .         .  The  Author 
Philologic   Uses    of  the    Celtic    Tongue 

(1873).  ditto 


BOOKS.  203 

NAMES  OF  BOOKS.  DONOR. 

Poems  by  Ossian,  in  metre  (1796)   .         .     Mr   Alex.     Kennedy, 

Inverness 

Proceedings  of  the  Historical  and  Archaeo- 
logical Association  of  Ireland  (1870-3)      The  Society 

Shaw's  Gaelic  Dictionary  (1780)          .          .     Rev.  A.   Macgregor 

History  of  the  Culdees,  Maccallum's    .          .  ditto 

Macdiarmid's  Gaelic  Sermons  (MS.,  1773)  .  ditto 

Gaelic  Grammar,  Irish  character  (1808)       ..  ditto 

Gaelic  Pentateuch,  Irish  character      .          .  ditto 

Gaelic  Book  of  Common  Prayer  (1819)       .  ditto 

Gaelic  Psalter,  Irish  character    .          .          .  ditto 

Transactions  of  the  Gaelic  Society  of  Inver- 
ness, vols.  L,  ii.,  iii.,  and  iv  . 

Bibliotheca  Scoto-Celtica     .... 

Orian  le  Rob  Donn     .          .         .         .         . 

Leabhar  Oran  Gaidhealach. 

Vible  Casherick,  Manx        .... 

Biobla  Naomtha,  Irish         .... 

Dr  Smith's  Seann  Dana       .... 

Evans's  Welsh  Grammar  and  Vocabulary    . 

Orian  Uilleam  Ros      ..... 

Orian  Dhonncha  Bhain 

Co-chruinneachadh  Orain  Gailig . 

Book  of  Psalms,  Irish         .... 

Orain  Nuadh  Gaidnelach,  le  A.  Macdhornh- 
nuill  ....... 

Laoidhean  o'n  Sgriobtuir,  D.  Dewar    . 

Leabhar  Oran  Gailig  , 

Am  Biobla  Naomhtha  (1690)      . 

The  family  of  lona 

Grant's  Origin  and  Descent  of  the  Gael 

Rathad  Dhe  gu  Sith 

Dain  Spioradail,  Urr.  I.  Griogalach     . 

Dara   Leabhar  airson  nan  Sgoilean.  Gaidh- 
ealach         ...... 

Treas  Leabhar  do.  do  . 

What  Patriotism,  Justice,  and  Christianity 
demand  for  India         .... 

Orain  Ghaidhealach    .         .         . 

Priolo's  Illustrations  from  Ossian  .     Purchased 


204  TRANSACTIONS. 

NAMES    OF    BOOKS.  DONOR. 

Photograph  of  Gaelic  Charter,  1408     ,         .     Rev.      W.       Ross, 

Rothesay 

The  Celtic  Magazine,  vol.  i  The  Publishers 

Elementary  Lessons  in  Gaelic      ...         .     The  Author 

1877. 

Stewart's  Gaelic  Grammar  .         .         .     Mr  D.  Mackintosh. 

Proceedings  of  the   Historical  and    Archse- ") 

ological  Association  of  Ireland,  1874-5  >The  Society. 

(2  parts)  J 

Do.,  Do.,  1876  (3  parts)  ditto 

Irish  Pedigrees,  by  O'Hart  .         .     The  Author. 

Dan  an  Deirg  agus  Tiomna  Ghuill  (English 

Translation),  2  copies     .         .         .          Mr  C.  S.  Jerram 
Transactions   of  the   Gaelic   Society  of  In-  \ 

verness,  vol.  v.  .  J 

Gaelic  and  English  Vocabulary  (1741)         .     Rev.  A.  M'Gregor. 
Aryan    Origin     of    the    Celtic     Race   and  )  Mr  John  Mackay, 

Language  .         ,         .          .         .  J      Swansea. 

Old  Map  of  Scotland  (1745)        .-  '      .         .     Mr    Colin    M'Cal- 

lum,  London. 

Collection  of  Harp  Music   ....     Mr  Cbas.  Ferguson. 
Valuation  Roll  of  the  County  of  Inverness  )  j.,, 

(1869-70)  .         .         .         .         .  / 

Do.,  Do.,     Ross  (1871-72)     .  ditto 

Inverness  Directory  (1869-70)  .         .  ditto 

Greek  Testament        .....  ditto 

Greek  Lexicon  ......  ditto 

Italian  Exercises        .....  ditto 

Gospel  of  St  John  adapted  to  the  Hamil-  )  ,., , 

j.     •      o    L        /T   j.-  \  f  ditto 

toman  System  (Latin)         .         .         .  J 

Histoire  de  Gil  Bias  de  Santillane  (French)  ditto 

Prophecies  of  the  Brahan   Seer,    2d   edition     Mr  A.  Mackenzie. 
My  Schools  and  Schoolmasters    .         .         .     Mr  James  Reid. 


205 


ORAN   DO   CHAIPTEAN  SIOSAL,  FEAR  ALLT- 
NA-GLAISLIG. 

"We  give  here  the  following  spirited  song  by  Mrs  Mary  Mac- 
Kellar,  the  bard  of  the  Society,  composed  to  celebrate  the  right 
hearty  and  Highland  spirit  with  which  Captain  Chisholm  of  Glass- 
burn  presided  at  the  annual  supper  of  the  Society  in  January 
1878.  It  appears  with  music  in  the  Celtic  Magazine  for  March, 
1878,  with  the  subjoined  note  which  fully  explains  the  circum- 
stances under  which  Mrs  MacKellar  composed  it : — 

'Ghaidheil  a's  ciataich,  do  bhliadhna  mhath  ur, 
Ged  chosgadh  i  'n  t-or  dhomh,  gu'n  olainn  le  sunnd  ; 
A  Phiobair'  anjfheadam.vfhir  leadanaich,  dhuinu,  ji 
'S  tu  fein'  chuir  le  d'  sheannsair  gu  dannsa  na  suinn.     ; 

Bu  shiubhlach  an  ribheid,  'a  bu  mhilis  an  gleus, 
A's  b'  fhileant'  na  meoir  'thug  an  ceol  a  bha  reidh  ; 

Gu'm  b'uaibhreach  an  aigne  bh'ais;  gaisgeach  mo  ghaoil, 
'S  bu  rioghail  an  gaidheal  mac  aillidh  nan  laoch. 

O  Shiosalaich  ghasda,  'a  ceann-feacbd  thu  le  buaidh,  "^ 
Bar  bhai-hdear  gun  gbealtacbd,  gun  mheatachd  dhut  dual ; 
Thu  shiol  nam  fear  calm',  agus  dhearbh  thu  do  choir 
Air  giulan  ard  ainm  agus  meamna  do  sheors'. 

'S  i  'n  deise  bu  mhiann  leat,  an  deise  bu  dual. 
An  deise  'bha  ghradhach  le  annuinn  do  shluaigh  ; 
Cha  bi'  bhriogais  lachdunc  a  thaitinneadh  ribh, 
Ach  feile  cruinn,  socair,  an  cogadh  's  an  sith. 

O  Fhir  Allt-na-Glaislig  gur  math  thig  dhut  fhein 
A'  bhoineid  's  am  breacan  aig  clachan  no  feill, 
Am  feile  beag  cuaiche  's  do  shuaicheantas  ard, 
'S  do  leugan  a'  boillsgeadh  mar  dhaoimean  gu  h-aillt' ! 

A  lasgaire  chiataich,  's  tu  's  fiachail'  's  gach  cuia, 
Tha  seirc  agus  maise  a'  lasadh  na  d'  ghnuis  ; 
O  c'ait  an  robh  caachag  'measg  ghruagach  na  tir 
Nach  rachadh  am  fuadach  leat,  uasail  mo  chridh' ! 

'S  tu  aealgair  an  fheidh  agus  sealgair  an  eoin, 

'S  tu  sealgair  na  h  eal',  agus  sealgair  a'  gheoidh, 

Le  d'  ghunna  neo-chearbach  's  tu  dh'  fhalbhadh  an  fhrith, 

'3  a  shiubhladh  an  fhuar-bheinn  air  cruaidhead  na  sin'. 

Do  mhiann  'bhi  's  a'  chreacbann  'sam  faight'  an  damh  donu — 
Ged 's  luthor  e  'learn  bithidh  e  reubt'  air  an  fhonn 
'Nuair  'chuiieas  tu  'n  cuilbhear  gu  cuiruseach  ri  d'  shuil, 
'S  a  shradas  gu  buadhor  do  luaidhe  mu  Vbul. 


206  TRANSACTIONS. 

A  Phiobair'  an  fheadain,  ged  's  beadarach  binn 
'Bhi  'd  eisdeachd  'an  seomar  'n  am  ceol  bhi  ga  aheinn, 
Tha  d'  aigne  cho  ard  ann  an  ar-f haich  nan  tuagh, 
,  'S  an  taobh  air  am  bi  thu  gur  cinnteacb  dha  buaidh. 

O  's  rioghail  an  Gaidheal  thu,  ghraidh  nam  fear  treun', 

'S  e  caismeachd  do  phioba  'chuir  m'  inntiun  gu  crleus, 

Thu  laantuinn  seann  dualchas  nam  fuar-bheannaibh  fraoich — 

An  tir  ghlan  a  b'  abhaist  'bhi  'g  arach  nan  laoch  ! 

O  ard  biodh  do  bhratach  a'a  tartrach  do  phiob, 
Fhir-labhairt  na  G-ailig  gu  manranach  binn  ; 
Tha  m'  earbsa,  'fhir  chalma,  a  d'  ainm  'bhi  ga  ghairm 
Le  cliu  mar  is  coir  dha,  na  d'  choirneal  air  airm. 

A  mhor-Ghaidheil  chiataich,  do  bhliadhna  mhath  ur, 
Ged  chosgadh  i  'n  t-or  dhomh,  gu'n  olainn  le  sunnd  : 
A  phiobair'  an  fheadain,  fhir  leadanaich,  dhuinn, 
'S  tu  fhein  'chuir  le  d'  shbannsair  gu  dannsa  na  suinn  ! 

NOTE.— It  is  not  necessary  to  say  a  word  in  praise  of  the  above.  The  air  is 
old  and  deservedly  popular.  The  words  are  the  composition  of  Mrs  Mary 
MacKellar,  the  bard  of  the  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness,  and  are  in  praise  of 
Capt.  Archibald  MacRa  Chisholm,  Glassburn,  Strath^lass,  who  discharged  the 
duties  of  chairman  with  so  much  success  at  the  last  Dinner  of  the  Society ;  and 
their  merit  augurs  well  for  their  future  popularity.  As  an  illustration  of  his 
thoroughly  Highland  spirit,  it  may  be  stated  that  when  asked  for  a  song,  the 
gallant  Captain  responded  by  saying  he  would  give  them  "a  song  on  the  bag- 
pipes." Then  taking  a  piob-mhor  which  belonged  to  the  last  Marquis  of  Sea- 
forth,  he  played,  in  excellent  style,  several  tunes,  which  had  the  effect  of 
creating  so  much  genuine  Highland  enthusiasm  as  is  rarely  witnessed  anywhere. 
Again,  when  the  programme  was  finished,  the  Captain  took  his  pipes  to  play 
a  parting  tune,  and  so  soul-stirring  did  the  music  prove,  to  quote  the  words  of 
The  Highlander,  "  that  the  table  which  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  hall  seemed 
to  be  whisked  to  a  side,  as  if  by  magic,  and  a  party  of  nimble  Celts  were  irresis- 
tibly drawn  into  the  mazes  of  the  Reel  of  Tulloch,  which  closed  the  proceedings." 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that  when  the  Bard  read  the  account  of  the  proceedings  in  the 
newspapers,  the  muse  had  to  find  expression  in  the  above  song. 

WILLIAM  MACKENZIE. 


PB 
1501 
G3 
v.6 


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